Fate

Epilogue: Fate

5 years later....

Five amazing years have passed and lives have been changed forever. About two weeks after Milani returned home with Austin, Drummer planned a beautiful proposal, but it was nothing compared to the wedding they had a year later. Austin has been growing up in a loving household where both his parents are affectionate, caring, and understanding. He's growing into an intelligent, handsome child and looks just like his daddy. Milani hopes that the twins she's currently carrying inside her will look more like her. Drummer was right about getting her pregnant again, but it's something about that dick that drives her crazy so she doesn't mind carrying his children. Plus watching Austin grow up made her sad anyway. Her grandma was right about her wanting another baby. Drummer and Milani plan to have at least 5 children so that they'll always have friends and won't need to fall into the wrong crowds to make friends at school. They know how serious peer pressure can be.

Unlike Drummer and Milani, Chanel and Brandon aren't doing too well. After Penelope's death, Chanel begged Brandon to stop hanging around Drummer and to only be present in Austin's life. No matter how hard he tried, Brandon couldn't help but to want his friendship with Drummer to last which upset Chanel. He did have an ulterior motive though. He planned to hurt Drummer one last time, but he couldn't tell Chanel because he didn't want her involved. Unknowingly of his reasoning, Chanel decided that if Brandon would continue to be weak minded that she couldn't be with him because she was afraid he'd flip one day and tell Drummer her secret about the blackmail. The two of them seemed to argue more and more everyday until Chanel finally called off their engagement, moved out of his house, and never spoke to him again. Neither one of them speak when they're visiting Austin, their godson. Little did Chanel know, Brandon knew a secret bigger than hers and was only talking to Drummer to find out more information. One rainy night, Drummer got drunk as fuck and told him how Deandre had Penelope killed. Funny thing is, Brandon was recording a Snapchat of himself smoking and got it all on video.

Speaking of Deandre, he was almost right about Penelope's case. Many detectives worked her case day in and day out, but weren't able to find anything. Her case went cold, until an unknown witness claimed to have video proof of a confession involving Deandre in the case. After further investigation and multiple threats, Deandre confessed to the murder before anyone could pin it on Drummer. He was the one who made the murder happen and he didn't want Drummer to be locked up for being an accessory just because he knew about the crime. Deandre was sentenced to life in prison without parole and his wife, Hazel, divorced him shortly after. She went on to marry a multi-millionaire professional football player and has now raised a daughter with him. A daughter that she was already pregnant with before she met him. Hazel has decided that she won't tell her daughter that Deandre is her father, instead she'll raise her as if her current husband is the father.

Despite Jarell's efforts, he died in prison after receiving the same treatment he gave Ryleigh. The rapes weren't the cause of his death though. AIDS  later claimed his life when he was given the bare minimum of healthcare in prison after contracting HIV. He was given a proper funeral, but no one came. Not even any of his family members. The service was over rather quickly. Holloway has since been released from prison on good behavior and because he's no longer a detective, he has turned his newfound love for fitness into a career. He's now a personal trainer and owns his own gym. As bad as he wants to get back at the people who set him up, he decides it's not worth it because an eye for an eye mentality makes the whole world blind.

These years have also been pretty good for Princess because after she ran away from Drummer's house that night, she admitted herself into rehab. For the first time she actually wanted to get clean and she did accomplish that. She met a man there that she fell madly in love with, but the facility prohibited relationships so they left the program, got clean on their own, and started a family. They're happy with their three children and both of them have well paying, steady jobs. Princess also mended her relationship with her parents. They apologized for not finding out the truth about Niyah's death sooner. Princess accepted their apologies and helps take care of her mama. That heart attack really did a number on her.

Kimora and Milani's relationship has been better than ever since the two of them fully forgave each other for their pasts. Kimora is an amazing aunt and so is Milani. Austin loves to visit Kimora for play dates with his cousins. They're allowing their children to form strong connections while they're young so that no one will be able to turn them against each other.

After finally being able to walk better, Jontaevious dropped out of school, got a job to support his family while also completing his GED program. He now works as a welder at a mechanic shop and makes enough money to keep him and his family in the nicest things. He plans to propose to his baby mama soon. He's just waiting on Drummer to help him set everything up. Tae is glad that him and his cousin are back to being cool.

Throughout their entire journey, Milani and Drummer fought through many obstacles to make their way back to each other. Over the years, they've learned the importance of Forgiveness, Affirmation, Transformation, and Effort aka FATE.

__________

F: FORGIVENESS
Without forgiveness, Milani would have never forgiven her sister, Kimora, for cheating with her ex-boyfriend and getting married to him. Without forgiveness, Milani would have never forgiven her family for acting like Kimora's mistake wasn't a big deal. Drummer also had to learn to forgive throughout this book by forgiving Brandon for falling in love with/ kissing Milani and sleeping with Princess. He also had to forgive his father for having Penelope killed and he had to forgive his mother for what she did to his dad. Too bad, she was already 6 feet under before he actually forgave her. Chanel learned to forgive Jarell for his constant torment which allowed her to accept Brandon's love. She later learned that she'd have to forgive him for falling in love with her best friend, kissing her, and getting caught in the club with a stripper. Chanel also had to forgive Drummer for everything he has done, but forgiveness didn't mean that their relationship with each other would change. Forgiveness was also shown in many other ways as each character went through changes.

A: AFFIRMATION
Affirmation or emotional support/ encouragement can be seen when Drummer constantly pursues Milani and lets her know that she's not like other girls. He constantly compliments her looks and allows her to truly be herself. His affirmations allowed him to break down her walls and love the real her, not the tough, shielded woman she once was. Drummer also gave words of affirmation to Ariyah when she questioned if his love for her was real. He did give her words of affirmation, but they were lies. Brandon also gave Chanel affirmation by letting her know that although blackmailing Drummer was wrong, she did it for the right reasons. He understood her like no one else had and that's why the two of them worked so well together...until they didn't. Milani gave Jontaevious words of affirmation whenever he felt like no one was listening and was angry about his aunt, Serena's death. He also received Milani's affirmations when he needed to be reminded that people were there for him and would help him when he couldn't walk. Kimora receives affirmations every day by her new husband who loves her more than anything.

T: TRANSFORMATION
Many characters in this book had Transformations whether they were good or bad. Ariyah transformed from a weak, begging woman who needed a man into a strong, independent woman. Sadly, her transformation wasn't seen because Drummer had her life ended. Brandon transformed from being a man with abandonment issues into a man who no longer cared if someone left his especially if it was someone like Drummer. Milani has transformed from a heartless, hoeish woman into a loving, caring mother. Tariq's transformation was a bad one because he ended up turning to drugs as his comfort, overdosing in prison. Speaking of prison, Holloway had transformed into a weight lifting addict while being there.

E: EFFORT
Nolan has put in the effort to become a better man than he once was by realizing that having multiple wives wasn't a good thing. He told both wives that he wanted to work on himself and needed some time alone. He's still an amazing father to his kids. Drummer showed effort by constantly showing Milani that he wanted to be with her even when she ran off to another state while being pregnant with his child. He also shows effort daily by keeping his promise to be a good father to Austin. Serena showed effort when she tried to make things right with Deandre and Drummer, but sadly, her life was taken before she accomplished her tasks. Her words meant a lot to Drummer, but he needed to see her actions.

______
Thank you all for your support! 💞💞
-xxlovetoreadxx