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“But…how did you find out? How do you know all of this?” Fiona is shaking her head, like she can’t quite believe it.
“Darin Eratiele was arrested when he tried to drain the assets from your father’s company the day after their deaths,” the president said. “Obviously, your family is very high profile here on Mirroean. Darin was under the impression that being your fiancé meant he was able to legally take your family’s money and your rightful inheritance. While he first assured us you had been killed on Dreagle and that he had absolutely nothing to do with it, he quickly took a plea bargain and told us the entire story. We’ve been looking for you ever since.” He looks at her seriously. “We take care of our own, Fiona. You might be a human, but you’re a Mirroean at heart.”
“Is Darin alive?”
“He’s in jail on another planet, the name of which I will not disclose to you for security reasons. You understand. You will never have to worry about him, dear. I assure you. You will never be hurt by him.”
“But why?” She shakes her head. “They all betrayed me. I still don’t know why. Why was I so easy to sacrifice?”
“Money makes people do crazy things.” The man speaks gently. It’s obvious he cares about Fiona and her feelings. He doesn’t want to tell her that her father was a huge dirt bag.
He doesn’t want to tell her he was a loser who gave up his own daughter for cash.
“We’ve had your father on our radar for awhile, Fiona. Recently, his financials had been stressed, to say the least. We knew he was getting desperate and had him under investigation for illegal activity. The company wasn’t doing as well as it had in years past. We discovered your father was dealing with many illegal corporations, transactions, and deals. His corporation was the perfect front for laundering money and importing goods. After his death and Darin’s imprisonment, we conducted a further investigation and shut down his business. Unfortunately,” he shakes his head. “There’s no money left. After paying his employees, his debts, and returning the money he’d stolen from several other companies, his bank accounts were completely drained. I’m afraid we have nothing to offer you.”
“But you’ve offered me everything,” Fiona looks like a huge weight has been lifted off her shoulders. “Closure,” she whispers. “I get my closure.”
“If you need a place to stay,” the president says. “One will be provided for you. We’ll also help you find a new job and help you rebuild your life. You aren’t alone in this, Fiona. You may have lost your family, but you are not alone. You understand, don’t you?”
“Why are you doing all of this?” She asks quietly, but I think I already know the answer. The president’s eyes look sad as he shakes his head slowly.
“Your father and I were friends once,” he says. “But that was a very long time ago.”
“I’m sorry,” Fiona says. “I’m sorry for your loss.” Once again, she demonstrates how sweet she is, how loyal. She’s dealing with her own pain, but she still finds it in her heart to show kindness to another person who might not be able to publicly deal with his grief.
The president stands and Fiona does, too. They share a hug, and then she looks him in the eye.
“I appreciate your offer to help me,” she says. “It means so much to me.” Then she shoots me a sideways glance and offers a tender smile. “But I’ve found a new family, and I think I’ll be just fine with them.”
EPILOGUE
Fiona
SIX MONTHS LATER
“For the love of dragons, woman, press the blue button!” Laughing, Quinn places his hand on top of mine and we press the button together: the one that guides our very own spaceship up off the ground of Sapphira and into the sky.
“I just wanted to make sure I fully enjoyed the moment,” I tell him. “I wanted to make sure I remember everything about what’s happening right now. This is it, Quinn,” I smile. “This is it. We’re leaving the planet and we’re going to explore the universe.”
“Together,” he says with a smile.
“Together.”
Quinn and I spent the last six months renting a little cottage on Sapphira while he taught me how to fly. Believe it or not, it really took me an entire six months to learn how to master the ins and outs of flying. Even though I finally passed all the qualification exams required to be able to purchase a ship, I know I still have a lot to learn.
Luckily, with Quinn by my side, I know I can do anything I set my mind to. I know I can do anything, be anything, go anywhere. With Quinn by my side, the world is at my fingertips.
We decided months ago how we wanted to
spend our lives: soaring through the universe. We want to fly around to different planets, explore different places, and meet different people.
We want to be free.
We want to be everywhere.
And the beauty is that the universe is so big and so vast that we can literally go anywhere. There are dozens of planets to explore and I want to visit them all. Quinn says that’s not a reality, but I think it is.
I think we can see anything we want to if we’re just brave enough to dream big.
