Neal’s fist came out of nowhere. The force of his punch sent Cliff flying into a small cabinet pushed against the wall. Glass flew everywhere and the little miniature collectible race cars it held clattered to the floor unceremoniously. Elena stood there in shock, as Cliff picked himself off the floor. His nose was bleeding and one eye was twitching profusely.
“Get out now!” Neal spat.
Clifford’s amusement seemed to have vanished. He glared at Neal and walked towards the door, limping slightly, tiny dots of glass glinting on his trousers. He looked back over his shoulder at the entrance.
“I have the originals of those images,” he told them vengefully, “and the board is going to see them this evening.”
Then he left, leaving Elena and Neal to their broken plans. Elena knelt to clean up the shards of glass all over the floors, but Neal stopped her.
“Let’s just sit down for a bit,” he said, leading her away from it.
“Neal…"
“It’s OK, Elena,” he said calmly, “it’s going to be OK.”
“You have a plan?” she said in relief.
“No, I don’t,” he said. “There’s no plan anymore. This is over, Elena.”
Elena looked at him in disbelief.
“You’re just going to give up?” she asked incredulously. “I’m pregnant, Neal. I’m pregnant with your brother’s baby!"
“You’re pregnant with my baby,” Neal said, his voice strong and resolute. “That child is mine, and now I can admit it freely. I can admit that I want this child to know that I am its father. I want the world to know I am the father of your child.”
“Neal-"
“It’s over, Elena,” Neal repeated again, “and I have to admit – I’m relieved. Losing the business will be hard, but the harder path is losing you. Losing our future together. Losing the chance to be a real family. No lies. No deception. Just you and me, and our baby.”
Elena smiled up at him, letting his words sink in.
“You’re sure this is what you want?” she asked quietly.
“I want you,” Neal replied honestly. “I want you to move in with me, so that we can have this baby together.”
Elena looked at him searchingly, but all she saw in those clear hazel eyes, was sincerity.
“I love you, Neal,” she said.
He smiled. “I love you too, Elena.”
He leaned in and kissed her. When they broke apart, they looked at one another for a second and laughed out loud.
“We’re really doing this?” Elena asked in awe.
Neal nodded. “Who would’ve thought?"
The loss of Hargrove Brothers was still there, still a thing to be mourned, but it did not weigh as heavily on him. It was bearable. It was something Neal could put behind him, knowing that he had done everything in his power to try to save it. Neal looked at Elena and felt whole again. As though the thing he had been missing his whole life had finally found its way back into his life. He was staggered by the strangeness of it all. Out of the pain of his brother’s death, he had the woman who had taken the lost boy that he used to be and turned him into a man.
He felt the loss of his brother like a knife in the heart, so similar to how he had felt when his mother had died, but somehow he was better equipped to deal with loss now. With Elena’s hand holding fast to his own, he was keenly aware of one fact.
After almost thirty years, he had finally learned to survive.
The Final Chapter
“Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” Elena asked, trying to block out the sound.
“It’s Harry,” Neal explained, “calling again to try and convince me not to give up my shares.”