~ Jed ~

We went to go to pick up Ryan from the hospital, only to find him glued to the telly. "Look," he insisted, turning up the volume to a report about Brightmoor.

"There are no fatalities reported as of yet, but it will be quite some time until a thorough search can be made," the chipper young woman reported. "Thankfully, the building had already been evacuated for a suspected gas leak and authorities remain hopeful there will be no casualties of the massive blaze." The camera panned the length of the building, flames licking from every possible nook and cranny, and windows exploding as we watched.

"Kate…" Gemma breathed.

"I already texted her, she's fine," Ryan replied, and the knot in my stomach eased a bit.

Just because she'd… done what she did, didn't mean I wanted her dead in a fiery inferno. "I just hope everyone else got out okay."

We all sat around watching until the nurse came with the final paperwork for him to sign and we took him home.

In the following days, there were some human remains found in the building debris, but tests showed they'd been dead for years, even decades. After that, things were decidedly… normal. Gemma went back to work and I started in on the bathroom renovation. There was no word from Kate, but I wasn't especially surprised by that.

In the weeks that followed, one thing became abundantly clear – there were no more ghosts. That is to say, if there were any ghosts about, I couldn't see, hear, or feel them. Neither did Gemma, but that was usual for her as she'd only ever been able to see Jilly. It took me a while to realize it at first. I'd avoided going into her work to keep from interacting with any ghosts, but then it struck me, I didn't see them anywhere.

The only cause I could come up with was that moment my mum had said goodbye. She'd said something about giving me my freedom, and there had been the trail of energy coursing from my body to hers when she'd left. I hadn't recognized it at the time, but she really had freed me from that otherness. No more doom and terror, no more ghostly distractions that left me shaken and staring, and made others look at me like I was insane. I was free to live my life. Without those crazy apparitions, I got myself a regular job in construction. Nothing fancy, but it felt good to earn my own steady paycheck and be able to contribute to the household.

I could tell that Gemma missed Jilly a lot, and there were more than a few times when she called to her out of habit to share something or other, and then she'd get that sad smile. Ryan and I did our best to cheer her out of it, and for the most part it worked.

Things got easier with every passing day as the nightmare began to fade and Kate's name came up less and less. Until one day a letter arrived by registered post. It was from a posh attorney's office and came with a letter advising this payment was full and final, a smaller sealed envelope, and a check with more zeros on it than I thought could fit in the space.

"What is it?" Gemma asked, and I handed over the official letter and the check. Her eyes widened when she saw the amount.

"This is from Kate," I said, recognizing the handwriting on the smaller envelope. Part of me didn't want to open it, was just done with anything she had to say and didn't want any of her guilt money. But curiosity won out in the end and I tore it open.

Jed,

I know this doesn't make up for what I did to you. I know that. It's not even really why I sent this to you. In the end, I sent this because you're a Bettany, and you're entitled to half. Gemma was right. The only way to end it all was to burn it to the ground and end this terrible cycle our family has been caught up in. So that's what I've done. I've sold it all off, every scrap of property with the Bettany name on it. This is your legacy now, not one of trauma and shame. Your chance to make something good in the world happen, starting with your own life. Don't waste it.

Kate

Gemma's eyes slid over the handwritten letter when I handed it to her. "She burnt the building down?" she murmured in shock.

"It looks that way," I said, still too stunned to process it properly. I'd never asked for any of the Bettany money. All I'd ever wanted was to be accepted as part of the family, though that had proven too hard for Warren to accept. Now the family name was all but obliterated since I never intended to take it for my own, and Warren was still in the asylum and it looked like he would be for the rest of his life.

"This is a stupid amount of money," Gemma murmured, drawing me out of my thoughts.

"Hm?"

"I said you're a proper toff now. Like you never have to do another day's work again in your life." A furrow appeared between her brows, and I reached over to stroke it.

"I suppose I am. And this is bad news somehow?"

"No, it's not bad…"

"But it is troubling you?"

"No, not troubling exactly…" She shook her head. "It's just… now you won't have to stay here with me. You can get your own mansion with proper servants and the like."

"Is that why you think I'm here? Because I have to be?"

"Well… no, I guess not when you put it that way," she allowed.

"Good, because I happen to love you, remember?"

"I do seem to recall something to that effect," she replied, her face lit up with a smile.

"And whatever happens next, it won't change me wanting to be with you. Besides I like it here. I think it suits me far better than a posh mansion, and can you imagine me with servants?" I raised a brow at her, and Gemma laughed.

"No, I suppose not. What do you intend to do with the money then?"

"I think… maybe we'll look into getting the new oven so you won't keep burning the biscuits."

"I never!" she objected, swatting me with a pillow in outrage, and I caught her up in my arms.

"We can order that new wallpaper you fancied then."

"But it's your money. You don't have to spend it on the house."

"I'm not spending it on the house. I'm spending it on our home. That's more priceless to me than anything else I could do with it."

Gemma took my face in her hands. "I love you," she said seriously.

"I love you too, Gem," I said, leaning in to steal a kiss. "It's you and me."

"I like the sound of that," she smiled back. "Together forever."

"Now… there's something I wouldn't mind showing you upstairs," I said, giving my voice a mock severity.

Her expressive brow instantly crumpled in concern. "In the bathroom? Is there a problem with the plumbing?"

"No, in the bedroom."

"The bedroom? What's wrong in there?"

"Hopefully nothing," I grinned, waggling my brows at her suggestively.

Gemma caught onto my mood, her grin returning. "You're it!" she declared and then ran for the stairs, giggling like a madwoman.

I gave chase, my longer strides eating up the distance as I ran after her. I caught her just as she reached our bedroom.

We both won.

A/N: Well, what did you think? Reviews greatly appreciated.

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