Forever After All

by Catharina Maura

You might love your daughters more than life itself, but never forget that we love you just as much.

It’s not surprising that he doesn’t recognize me. After all, I’ve changed a lot since I was fifteen, in more ways than just physical. My entire life has changed. I’m far from his little brother’s carefree friend.

I’ll still be a reminder of the guy that stole his fiancée and severely damaged his company at the same time.

“I don’t think we’ve met. Surely, I would’ve remembered meeting a woman like you,” he says,

This… this is all I’ll ever have of him. Stolen moments. I’ll take them, and I’ll put them under lock and key, to be treasured, to brighten my darkest days. If this is all I’ll have of him, I’m going to make it count.

This girl… she’s real, and she might very well be the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.

I sigh, my mind flashing back to the countless tasks waiting for me; my mother’s endless demands, my grandfather’s ridiculous requirement for marriage before he’ll let me take over the company that I’ve worked myself to the bone for.

Tell me three good things that happened to you today?” she asks, startling me out of my thoughts.

“Well, I finally closed a deal I’ve been working on for months. I took my mom out for our weekly lunch date today and we managed to have a good talk… and I met you.”

She’s beautiful, and she looks so incredibly sweet. Far too sweet for a man like me.

“I’d wish for genuine happiness, Diana,” I tell her honestly. For a while, I thought I had the happiness I craved, but I was proven wrong. I shake my head, feeling lost for just a single moment. “What about you?” She smiles, but her smile is bittersweet. “Health,” she says. “Good health for everyone I love.”

“Are you sure we’ve never met before?” I ask her, my eyes falling to her lips.

“I thought you said you’d definitely remember me if we had?”

“Yeah, I definitely wouldn’t forget you, Diana.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Alec. But it was good to see you. I’m glad you’re doing well.” I freeze and stare at her in disbelief. Less than a handful of people call me Alec, and never in public. She’d have to be close to my family to know my nickname. “What did you call me?” I ask, anger running through my veins. “I’m sorry. I have to go,” she says, her voice tinged with regret. She grabs her phone and purse before dashing past me.

Eight years. My mother has been in a coma for eight years now, and I’m the only one who still believes she’ll wake up one day. I can’t help but feel like it’s a race against the clock. It’s become a question of what will run out first, the money that keeps her alive, or my mother’s remaining health.

A year after my mother fell into a coma, my father managed to get her doctors to declare her brain-dead so he could get remarried. The day he married my stepmother was the day our insurance company informed me they’d stop paying for my mother’s treatments. I didn’t think much of it then, being a Rousseau, but I should’ve known. I should’ve seen the signs before it was too late.

I even would’ve played nice if my stepmother hadn’t asked Dad to stop paying for Mom’s medical bills.

My stepmother has her claws in him so deep, she’s got him convinced that all I’m doing is wasting money on a lost cause. I barely recognize Matthew anymore. I left home as soon as I turned eighteen, but he stayed.

know that there’s no shame in doing what it takes to keep someone alive.”

“Jennifer got engaged,” he says, sounding pained. “To Matthew Rousseau. They picked a wedding date already. They’re doing a low-key secret wedding in the Bahamas next year… on June 20th.”

June 20th. The day she was supposed to marry me. It can’t be a coincidence. She clearly picked that day intentionally; another way to stab me in the heart and twist the knife like the vicious bitch she is.

Jennifer is the one I thought was different. The first girl that didn’t seem to be after my money, that saw me for who I am, and not what...

I pick up the photo frame I keep on my nightstand, my grip tight as I stare at the picture of Jennifer and me, both of us smiling. It’s a reminder of what happens when I allow myself to fall in love, and how much of a weakness love truly is.

“No,” Matthew says. “Can’t you see she doesn’t belong here?” he adds, turning up his nose.

I’d sell my soul to keep my mother alive—so if I have to, I can and will sell my body, too.

I’m giving up on the girl I used to be back when Lucian and Alexander were a part of my life.

My shoulder brushes against Alexander’s arm, and suddenly I’m stopped in place, his hand on my wrist, his grip tight. “Elena, is it? That’s right. Elena Diana Rousseau. I guess you didn’t lie, but you weren’t honest either.”

When Elena lost her mother, he lost her.

Where is she? Elena Diana Rousseau. I saw her walk into your club a few minutes ago. What is she doing here?” Vaughn pauses. “Fuck. It’s her?” he asks. “Yes.” “Alexander, someone called me to say Matthew’s sister was going to show up. I thought I was doing you a favor, man. Fuck. I sent her to John. Conference room eight. You’re not going to like this.”

I’d never forgive myself if she died when I could’ve done something to save her. Even if she never wakes up again, I need to know that I tried everything in my power to give her the chance to. If our roles were reversed, I know my mother would do the same for me.

“Alec,” I whisper, shame coloring my cheeks crimson. “Alexander,” he corrects me. “We’re not that close.”

I’ve always been one of the few apart from his family that could call him Alec, and it kills me that I’m a stranger to him now.

“Is this what you want, Elena? You want men to touch you whenever they feel like it? Spread your legs for anyone that throws some money your way?”

“This is what will be expected of you, and much more. I’m barely even touching you. Can you bear to drop down on your knees and suck my dick? What if I want to bend you over and fuck you?”

“You’re fucking soaking wet.”

“Tell me, does the idea of being used by men turn you on so much? Are you enjoying my finger inside you? You’re so wet, I can probably slip my cock straight into you.”

“Tell me I’m wrong, Elena. Tell me you’re not here to sell your body at Vaughn’s club. Tell me that you didn’t mean to deceive me that night.”

“Alexander, please,” I moan. “Please what? Please stop? If you don’t want me to treat you like a common whore, all you have to do is say stop. Say no. Push me away.”

“I don’t know what you’re doing here, or what has caused you to be in these circumstances. What I do know is that you’re coming home with me.”

Part of me is ashamed of how I treated her. How unreasonable I was, and how very much out of control I felt when I saw her sitting there, that defiant look on her face. She has no idea what she almost got herself into, no matter how much she may have tried to convince herself otherwise. Unwarranted possessiveness surges through me as I think back to the look on her face when I made her come.

“No… Elena?” She wraps me in a tight hug and I squeeze back just as hard, holding back tears yet again. I can’t remember the last time someone hugged me like this, yet today two people have held me close. “Sofia,” I whisper, as though saying her name out loud will wake me up from this nostalgic dream. Sofia kisses the top of my head and tightens her hug.

“Elena is moving in with us,” he says.

“The layout of this entire floor has changed,” I murmur in surprise. Alexander pauses and looks back at me. “Yeah. Two years ago, we renovated most of the house. Lucian, my parents, and I each have separate quarters now. They’re all still in the same building, but they’re essentially different apartments.”

“If I ask you to get on your knees right now and suck my dick for 10k, would you do it?”

“How about 20k? You know, I’ve been fantasizing about those lips of yours since that night at Inferno,” he says.

“What is it you’re offering me, Alexander?” she asks. “You want me to suck you off? I will. If it helps save my mother’s life, there’s nothing I won’t do. If our roles were reversed and it was your mother’s life on the line, can you honestly tell me you wouldn’t go to hell and back to save her?”

“It was the way you looked at me,” she tells me. “I recognized you straight away, but I knew that as soon as you found out who I am, you’d change. You were flirting with me and you were being playful. I saw a side of you I’ve never seen before, and I selfishly wanted more of that. I wanted more of the Alexander who actually saw me as a woman, and not the awkward teen that followed him around everywhere. I wanted to be more than the little sister of the man you hate.”

“Elena, I want you to marry me.” She stares at me in disbelief, her eyes wide. “You… what?” “Marry me, Elena.”

She’s no doubt remembering the way our mothers used to joke about their children getting married. I always wondered who they imagined her getting married to, me or Lucian. I guess the decision is out of their hands now.