Secrets And Lies

Epilogue

4 Years Later

Brooke was now 24 years old and her husband, James, was now 33 years old.

After they got married, life got easier. Simpler.

Brooke and James were out of college and had their bachelor's degrees in law, both going on to work at successful law firms in California. They had a two year old daughter named Bella.

After college, Brooke and James both moved to California for work purposes. Brooke's father was upset but Brooke promised that she would visit him twice a month and she kept that promise.

After she found out that she was pregnant, her father was ecstatic. He was thrilled to be having a granddaughter.

And life went on after that. They continued to live their lives like nothing had happened in the past six years.

Eventually, Brooke's mother showed up on her front door step one day. In the back of her mind, Brooke predicted something like this would happen and when it did, she knew exactly what she would say to her.

After giving her a piece of her mind, her mother left, only to be seen with her low-life boyfriend. Brooke asked her why she showed up and her mother told her that she missed her. After six and a half years, she finally showed up and Brooke knew it was because she was successful. All she wanted was her and James money. Even when she was dealing with Scott's trial, her mother didn't even attempt to get in contact with her.

And after she slammed the door in her mother's face, she never saw her again. She didn't feel an ounce of remorse for the woman nor did she feel regret for her words and actions. In all honesty, it felt right.

Present Day

Brooke was sitting outside in a lawn chair beside James as Bella ran around the yard, playing with their one year old Siamese kitten.

Brooke took a sip of her beer, as did James, before he glanced over at her, raising an eyebrow.

"What?" Brooke asked suddenly, noticing James' eyes staring at her.

"Nothing... I was just thinking about all the good times we've had. And all the bad times too."

Brooke glanced over at him, raising an eyebrow as a smirk threatened to form on her lips.

"Really?"

James nodded but didn't say anything as his attention went back to Bella.

"Anything worth sharing?" Brooke persisted.

James glanced over at her, a grin plastered on his face.

"Nothing worth repeating; Me repeating it would not compare to us actually experiencing it."

Brooke let out a short chuckle before she leaned over to him.

"I wouldn't change anything. Not one thing in our life. Not even the bad times." Brooke admitted before gently pressing her lips to his. When she pulled away, she bit her lip to stop a smile from forming but failed.

Brooke pulled away, sucking in a breath before going back to watching Bella as she cuddled the kitten in the grass.

"Do you have any regrets?" James asked abruptly.

Brooke's head snapped in his direction, her brows furrowed.

"No." She replied firmly before she set her bottle down on the table next to her, standing up, extending her hand out to James as he still sat in the lawn chair.

He stared at her, questioning her motives but eventually, he got up, taking her hand.

Brooke stared up at James, her eyes bright and excited.

"I could never regret anything that happened between us. Not even the times that I spent with Scott because those were the times when God was preparing me, for you. At the time, I might have been meant for Scott but when he left, that was it. God planned on dropping me in your lap. And that's exactly what he did and I don't regret all the times we spent together or all the times that I thought, that maybe, maybe I should be with Scott. I don't regret all the times that we got into arguments and considered getting a divorce or breaking up. I don't regret dragging you with me to Russia to convince my ex-boyfriend to take me back,"

James continued to stare at Brooke as she spoke, his mind and heart falling in love with her more and more.

"Even though, at the time, I was falling in love with you. Hell, I don't even regret driving over to that house the day that I found out Scott was dealing with you, because if I'd been a good girlfriend, I would've stayed home and trusted him. But I didn't. And that's how we met, even though they weren't exactly on good terms. And most of all, I don't regret floating all the way away from shore, only to be rescued by Scott, because that was God's plan for us. All the way from the beginning, he planned for us to meet and fall in love, even if it took a while for me to finally do so." Brooke added with a chuckle at the end.

James had a huge grin on his face as Brooke answered his question.

"So you think that we were destined for each other?" He challenged with a smirk.

Brooke let out a breath of air before glancing down at her shoes, then back up at him.

"I don't think so. I know so."

James then leaned down and pressed his lips to hers for a long moment before they separated.

"See, I told you we would finally get to live happily ever after." He stated.

Brooke laughed before glancing over at Bella in the yard.

"Yep. You absolutely did. And I never doubted you for one minute." Brooke admitted before leaning up and pressing her lips to his once more.

○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○○

And that's it. That's the story of Brooke Eastwood and how one man ultimately changed her life for the better, even if he wasn't the man she married.

I hope you guys enjoyed this story because I know I enjoyed writing it. There were a few times where I had writer's block but after I overcame that, I created some of my favorite chapters in this story.

Well, I guess this is the end. There is not going to be a sequel to this since my two favorite characters got their happy ending. I have two other stories that you can read if you have not already. Those are apart of the Soulmates sequel and I wrote those over a year's time span.

Hope you enjoy and don't forget to vote on this story! Thank you all for reading!

-Paige