2brown-eyes reads and seems happy with the wrap up!

With Elizabeth gone, Carlisle Cullen wasted no time in replacing her. Esme Platt has already moved her belongings into the Cullen mansion.

How long will it take the Cullen Corp CEO, Carlilse's own son, to fire her?

I'm betting on today!

What say you?

You heard it here first!

AKA

"Will you explain more about Tanya?" I ask softly, buttering my toast to make my question seem nonchalant. "You stayed with her while your wife left the event." I put the knife down and meet his eyes, careful to keep my tears in check. "That hurt, Edward."

He recoils as if I've slapped him, regret churning in his serious gaze. "It sounds really dumb now, but that was simple decorum. The Cullen Christmas Gala is a yearly event, and it's hosted strictly by the CEO. I'd only just taken over, so it was imperative I see it through to the end."

Understanding swells inside me, but it doesn't let him off the hook completely. "You stayed on the dance floor with her while your wife walked away."

"I thought I should give you some space," he replies, looking as unsure as I've ever seen him. "At some point later, Emmett told me that you'd left, but I was in no position to follow at the time."

"Because you were busy entertaining Tanya?" I ask the question out of spite, and my tone gives it away.

"What? No," he says, slightly annoyed at the accusation. "It was my responsibility to stay until every last guest had departed."

"Yet you've still spent time with her these past few weeks," I say, letting a little of my jealousy show. "I've been left to feel like I was the backup plan, like now that she was here you didn't need me anymore."

"I've enjoyed every second you've been in my life." His eyes are pleading with me to understand. "But I figured I owed it to Tanya to hear her out. I had pretty much insisted she marry me, as misguided and stupid as that was."

"Do you really think it was stupid, or are you just saying it because it gets you closer to what you want now?" It's hard to trust everything, even though I want more than anything to believe him. "Did it not work out between you two?"

He huffs a laugh, though not a funny one. "It was the same as it's always been." My breath catches. "And that's the problem. In the past, I never had anything to juxtapose our relationship to, but that's not the case anymore. All I could do was compare every single fucking thing about her to you." He shakes his head. "And she never measured up."

"Did you sleep with her?" I whisper, bracing myself.

"Of course not," he says forcefully. "I may not be perfect, but I'd never cheat on my wife." He leans forward then, steely, determined eyes boring into mine. "Who would ever go back to mediocre when they had found spectacular?"

"Kiss her?"

He grips my chin, our eyes locked. "No."

My heart picks up the pace, pitter-pattering in my chest. "We've wasted a lot of time when you could've just told me all that."

He pulls back, soft and vulnerable again. "Rejection is new to me." When my brows furrow, he elaborates, "I came for you after the Gala, to bring my wife home." He reaches into his pocket and comes back out with my ring, tossing it on the quartz countertop. "It didn't go very well."

My chest constricts. The sight of something I loved wearing has turned painful. "What did you expect?" I snap, anger exploding from somewhere deep inside me. "How dare you give me a copycat ring!"

"Honestly," he says, sighing, "I didn't purchase either one. My assistant did."

"Angela?" I'm both relieved and disgusted.

At least he didn't personally do it.

But why would she?

"She's already been fired." The statement is small, and that's nothing like my husband.

"Who gets fired for parading the other ring all over town?" I'm being spiteful again, but it's hard not to let it all out.

"Did you want me to forcibly remove it?" He lifts a brow, looking not opposed to the idea, and it makes me think of when we first met, and I accused him of being in the mob.

"No," I say quickly, not wanting him to consider it too long. "You asked her to remove it, though?"

"Of course I did. I demanded it." His reply is soft and sure. "And I fired Angela as soon as I realized the rings were the same."

"That may've been a bit harsh considering it's you who should've bought my ring." I lift my chin.

"To be fair…" He stands, hand slipping into his pocket. "At the time, it was an arrangement more than a proposal. But that's not the case anymore." He drops down right there on the polished marble floor. "I've fallen in love with my wife, Mrs. Cullen. I'd love it if you'd do me the incredible honor of wearing this ring, one that I personally picked because it's the closest thing to your beauty I could find."

Inside the velvet black box is a platinum ring with a large pink stone with smaller white diamonds on either side. Much like Edward, it's polished, obviously very expensive, and one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen.

I get swept away in the moment, knowing that all my questions haven't been answered and not caring in the least. I love this man, my husband, lover, and friend, and I want to work this out, to go through the ups and downs and raise our baby as a married couple.

Holding out my shaky left hand, I murmur, "Yes."

For the rest of the chapters, I'm having to load them today (Thursday), so I won't have any real time ANs to share.

I just wanna say I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!

The love you've shown this fic has been beyond, and I hope that I cover everything you've wondered about well enough to make you feel satisfied with the end.

Are we squeeing today?

Or was it still not enough?

See ya tmr :)