Updated Oct 29, 2025 • ~8 min read
Outside the courthouse, the media was waiting.
Cameras. Microphones. Reporters shouting questions.
“Ms. Astor! How does it feel to win custody?”
“Will you pursue further legal action against your ex-husband?”
“Ms. Astor! Is it true you and Gabriel Astor are in a relationship?”
Gemma pushed through them. “No comment. My client has no statement at this time.”
Gabriel’s arm was around Jane’s shoulders. Protective. Guiding her through the chaos.
They made it to his truck. Gemma held off the reporters while they climbed inside.
“Drive,” Gemma said through the window. “Get out of here. I’ll handle the press.”
Gabriel didn’t need to be told twice. He pulled away from the courthouse, leaving the media frenzy behind.
Jane sat in silence. Staring at nothing.
“You okay?” Gabriel asked after a few minutes.
“I don’t know.” Jane’s voice was flat. Empty. “I won. Clara’s safe. David can’t touch us. I should feel—” She stopped. “Something. Anything. But I just feel tired.”
“You’ve been fighting for months. Of course you’re tired.”
“It’s more than that.” Jane looked at her hands. They were shaking slightly. “I keep waiting to feel victorious. Or relieved. Or happy. But I just feel—” She searched for the word. “Hollow.”
Gabriel pulled over. Turned to face her. “Jane—”
“I destroyed him. Did you see his face when the judge ruled? I took everything from him.” Her voice cracked. “And I don’t feel good about it. I don’t feel anything.”
“Because you’re in shock. Because you’ve been running on adrenaline for so long that now that it’s over, you’re crashing.” Gabriel took her hand. “It’s okay to not feel victorious. It’s okay to just feel tired.”
“He tried to kill me. Tried to kill Clara. And now he’s going to prison. I should be celebrating.”
“Should doesn’t matter. You feel what you feel.” Gabriel squeezed her hand gently. “Let yourself process. Let yourself be tired. You’ve earned it.”
Jane leaned her head back against the seat. Closed her eyes. “I want to go get Clara. I need to hold her.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.”
They drove to the house where Hazel, the babysitter, was watching Clara. The baby was sleeping peacefully, unaware that her entire future had just been secured.
Jane picked her up carefully. Held her close. Breathed in that baby smell.
“We’re safe,” Jane whispered. “You’re safe. He can’t hurt us anymore.”
Clara stirred but didn’t wake. Just snuggled closer to her mother’s warmth.
“Thank you,” Jane said to Hazel. Paid her. Sent her home.
Then it was just the three of them. Jane, Gabriel, Clara.
Gabriel made tea. Jane sat on the couch with Clara in her arms.
“What happens now?” Jane asked. “With David’s criminal trial?”
“Prosecutor thinks it’ll go to trial in six months. Wesley Dupont’s testimony is strong. Combined with the bank records and Vivienne’s statement—” Gabriel sat beside her. “He’s going to prison. For a long time.”
“How long?”
“Attempted murder, conspiracy—probably twenty years minimum. Maybe more.”
Twenty years. David would be in his fifties when he got out. His entire life destroyed.
By her testimony. Her evidence. Her refusal to stay silent.
“I did this,” Jane said quietly. “I destroyed his life.”
“No. He destroyed his own life. You just made sure he faced consequences.” Gabriel’s voice was firm. “Don’t take responsibility for his choices.”
“But I—”
“You survived. That’s all. Everything else—his arrest, his trial, his conviction—that’s on him. Not you.”
Jane wanted to believe that. Wanted to separate herself from his fall.
But she’d stood in that courtroom and told his secrets. Had exposed everything. Had watched him led away in handcuffs.
And yes, he deserved it. Yes, he’d tried to murder her.
But that didn’t make watching his destruction feel good.
“I’m not like him,” Jane said. More to herself than Gabriel. “I’m not vindictive. I’m not cruel. I don’t enjoy people suffering.”
“Of course you don’t. That’s what makes you different from him.” Gabriel shifted Clara so Jane could lay her in the portable bassinet. “David would have enjoyed destroying you. You’re just trying to survive and protect your daughter. That’s not the same thing.”
Jane nodded. Tried to believe it.
Her phone buzzed. A text from Penelope.
Vivienne returned the necklace. Dropping it off tomorrow if you’re available.
Jane stared at the message. The emerald necklace. The thing that had started the lawsuit. The heirloom that was supposed to matter.
And she felt nothing about it.
“Vivienne’s returning the necklace,” Jane said.
“That’s good, right?”
“I guess. I don’t know. I don’t care anymore.” Jane set down her phone. “I started that lawsuit to hurt her. To expose the theft. To make her pay.” She looked at Gabriel. “And now I just want to be done. I don’t want anything from her. Not apologies, not explanations, not heirloom jewelry. I just want her out of my life.”
“Then tell Penelope to accept the necklace and close the case. You don’t owe Vivienne anything.”
“She testified for me today. Against David. That took courage.”
“Or guilt. Or fear. Whatever her motivation, she did the right thing. But that doesn’t mean you have to forgive her.”
Jane thought about Vivienne on the stand. Sobbing. Apologizing. Looking genuinely destroyed by what she’d done.
And Jane felt—nothing.
Not anger. Not pity. Just exhaustion.
“I don’t forgive her,” Jane said finally. “I don’t hate her either. I just—I’m done. With all of it. With the drama and the betrayal and the fighting.” She looked at Clara sleeping peacefully. “I just want to move forward. Build a life. Be happy.”
“Then that’s what we’ll do.” Gabriel pulled her close. “We’ll move forward. Together. Build whatever life you want.”
“What do you want?” Jane asked. “I keep thinking about what I want, what I need. But what about you? What do you want from this?”
Gabriel was quiet for a long moment. “I want you. Both of you. In whatever capacity you’ll have me. Boyfriend. Partner. Eventually—” He stopped. “Eventually more, if you’re ready. But right now? I just want to be part of your life. Help you heal. Watch Clara grow up. Build something real that isn’t based on trauma or revenge or running.”
“Eventually more?” Jane turned to look at him. “Like what?”
“Like—” Gabriel met her eyes. “Like husband. Stepfather. Family. The permanent kind.”
Jane’s breath caught. “Gabriel—”
“I’m not asking. Not yet. You need time. We need time.” He touched her face gently. “But I’m telling you what I want. Where I see this going. So you know. So there’s no confusion.”
“You want to marry me.”
“Eventually. Yes. When you’re ready. When we’re both sure. When the timing is right.” Gabriel smiled. “But no pressure. We have time.”
Jane kissed him. Long and deep and full of everything she felt but couldn’t say yet.
“I love you,” she whispered when they pulled apart. “And I want that too. Eventually. When I’m not so broken.”
“You’re not broken. You’re healing. There’s a difference.”
“Then when I’m more healed.”
“Whenever you’re ready. I’ll be here.”
They sat together on the couch as evening turned to night. Clara sleeping. The house quiet. The world outside continuing without them.
Jane’s phone kept buzzing. News alerts. Social media mentions. Messages from people she hadn’t spoken to in years.
She turned it off. Didn’t want to know what people were saying. Didn’t care about the court of public opinion.
She had what mattered. Clara. Gabriel. Safety.
Everything else was just noise.
“What do we do tomorrow?” Jane asked. “And the day after that? And all the days after?”
“Whatever we want. Live. Heal. Be happy.” Gabriel kissed her forehead. “No more running. No more hiding. Just—life. The boring, beautiful, ordinary kind.”
“I’ve never had ordinary.”
“Then it’s time you did.”
Jane closed her eyes. Let herself imagine it. A life without fear. Without looking over her shoulder. Without waiting for David to hurt her again.
A life where she woke up next to Gabriel. Where Clara grew up safe and loved. Where the past stayed in the past.
It seemed impossible. Too good to be true.
But maybe—just maybe—she’d earned it.
Maybe surviving everything meant she got to be happy now.
“Okay,” Jane said softly. “Ordinary sounds perfect.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.” She snuggled closer to Gabriel. “Let’s be ordinary.”
They fell asleep on the couch. Gabriel’s arms around Jane. Clara in her bassinet nearby.
Three people who’d found each other through tragedy and trauma and pure chance.
Three people who’d become a family.
And outside, the world kept spinning. David sat in a cell awaiting trial. Vivienne dealt with her guilt. The media dissected every detail of the case.
But inside the farmhouse, Jane finally let herself rest.
The war was over.
She’d won.
And tomorrow, she’d start living.
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