Page 97 of Inevitable Secrets

Here it was. This was her happily ever after.

Epilogue

Ten Days Later

There were definitely downsidesto being rich. Taylor could think of about five off the top of her head, even with recent events aside.

But deciding that you needed to have a family meeting in a relaxing location and taking your private jet to your own private Caribbean island, well, that did not suck.

Taylor, Derrick, and Marty were lying on oceanfront lounge chairs on the Fletcher private island and leisurely talking over where to go from here.

“Well, the first order of business I am going to take on is restoring Preston Manor,” Taylor announced as she sipped her piña colada.

“For what?” Marty asked, peeling her bikini top to the side to check on her tan. “Wait, are you guys moving there?” she asked suddenly.

“No,” Taylor said. “I, well, I think I want to open it as a rehab facility,” she said shyly, “in Cedric’s name.” It felt good to be able to say his name now and not have her stomach roll with fear. She still had a lot to work through, but Dr. Mellon had set her up with a great therapist, and she was determined to work her way through all the pain.

“Tay, I love that,” Derrick said. “And hey, the demo is already done,” he reminded her.

Taylor rolled her eyes at Derrick. “Yeah, I spoke to Dr. Mellon about it briefly, and he is interested in being involved. Dr. Parker, too. He is thinking of retiring from being the ME of LA County,” Taylor said. Parker had been found soon after Charlie was taken into custody, hiding in one of the morgue drawers after Charlie’s assasins had tried to attack him.

“What about Fletcher Mansion?” Marty asked.

Taylor watched as Derrick tensed a little. “What about it?” he asked hesitantly. This was actually something he and Taylor had talked about, one of the main reasons they wanted to have a family meeting with Marty.

“What the hell are we going to do with it? I mean, it is way too fucking big for us,” she said, “and I was thinking of getting my own place.”

Relief washed over Derrick’s features. “Really?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Marty said. “Are you mad?” she asked Derrick timidly.

“No, not at all. We,” he gestured between himself and Taylor, “were thinking the same thing. Thinking of getting our own space, somewhere we can start fresh.”

Marty’s eyes lit up. “That would be wonderful,” she said, genuine happiness lighting her eyes, and tears falling. “I’m sorry,” she said, grabbing at her towel to wipe her eyes. “I have been so emotional lately.”

Taylor gave her sister-in-law a warning look and she cleared her throat. “I think you totally should,” she emphasized as she sat up. Marty knew that Taylor had learned her secret, but Derrick was still in the dark about her and Henry, as well as their secret. She was going to tell him, but Taylor asked for her to wait until after their getaway, to let them have a sort of honeymoon they never had before she dealt with the big announcements.

“There is something else,” Taylor said to her sister-in-law, trying to change the subject. “We, well, we want to merge Preston Corp and Fletcher Enterprises.”

Marty looked between Taylor and Derrick. “Like you two would work together?” she asked.

“Well, we would merge the similar departments and manufacturing systems, but we won’t be working side-by-side together,” Taylor tried to explain. “But Preston Corp and Fletcher Enterprises would no longer be competitive conglomerates.”

“It seems kinda stupid for me to be competing against my wife,” Derrick said dryly.

“Yes, especially when I have Preston Corp profits up by 2.3% and you only have Fletcher up by 1.7%,” Taylor said, “and we know how much you hate to lose.”

“Anyway,” Derrick said, shooting his wife a dirty look, “Taylor also bought me a gift and I would like to focus more of my energy on making that work.”

“What is it?” Marty asked.

“A production company,” Derrick said with a big grin, “so I can finally make movies.”

“Derrick, that is great,” Marty squealed, and her eyes once again filled with tears that she blinked away quickly. Marty raised her water glass up. “Let’s toast to new beginnings and only happiness for us from here on out,” she said.

Taylor and Derrick clinked their own glasses with Marty’s and they all took a drink to seal the deal.

Ben walked near them on the beach, nodding at them. “Fletcher family,” he said as he did his hourly surveillance of the beachfront. Henry had added him to the security team, and he seemed to be in a better place with Derrick now. “You guys need anything?” he asked.

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