The final comment of the chapter goes to summerwind17!!

But, it's not your last chance for a shout out! I'm going to have a 'from the readers' section at the start of the book where I'll be putting some of your thoughts in for new readers, AND I'll be choosing some honourary comments from this chapter to shout out in future bonuses.

I really hope you enjoy the final chapter!💖💖

I arrived out the front of Penelope's apartment, and naturally began questioning everything. Was she even going to be home? What if her security escorted me out? I had no idea what was going to happen, but still, I knocked on the door.

A woman answered. She was short and dressed in uniform, and I gave her a polite smile. "Hi, I'm Penelope's friend!"

The woman nodded wordlessly and ushered me in. So much for security.

"I thought you might be coming."

Penelope, a picture of poise and grace, sat cross legged on her sofa, leaning on an elbow as she filed her nails. Her hair cascaded in turquoise braids woven with silver beads.

"Like it? I just had it done."

I ignored her, moving so I was standing in front of her, arms crossed. "Ask your staff to leave."

She raised an eye brow, as if astounded I'd demand anything of her.

But, after a few moments, she waved a hand in the direction of the few staff moving around her kitchen. They obeyed her, scurrying out of the room.

"Your final paycheck should be processed this week. Then, we're done."

"I don't want any more money from you," I said, willing strength into my tone. She rose to her feet, now towering above me even in just her slippers.

"Then, leave."

I pulled the flash drive from my pocket.

"This is a copy of every contract you made with each of us," I said. "Proving you are just some lonely rich girl paying everyone to be your friend. You even paid your so-called boyfriend. He didn't cheat on you. He just tried moving on with his life."

"He's lying," she said. "They all are."

"Really, Penelope?" I asked. "I might not have believed them if you hadn't played me yourself."

She pressed her plump lips together in a thin line. She'd recently had lash extensions and the harsh wing at the corner of each eye made her look wicked.

"So you're threatening me," she said. "You really want the world to know about your marriage?"

"What marriage?" I said. "You can expose my parents for their fraud all you like, but I'm not going down for that. I'm not going to be wrapped up in anyone else's dirty work every again."

She laughed. "The world doesn't work that way, Joselyn. You'll always be a Crawford."

"And you'll always be alone."

Did I see a twitch at the corner of her lips?

"Haven't you checked Instagram today?"

"I—what?" I asked, automatically taking out my phone.

"Well, you're late to the party. I dumped Cole. And I've already moved on, contract free. I don't need some ex-high school baseball player who'd rather sleep with a wannabe artist than date an international supermodel. I have a guy who can give me everything."

I stifled a laugh. "You dumped Cole?"

"That's what I said, want me to write it down for you?"

"So we don't even need to blackmail you to end all this bullshit?"

Penelope laughed with elegant amusement. "Like that'd even work."

I stared at her for a few long moments, waiting for the catch.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get ready. He's taking me on his private jet back to Paris, and I'm running out of time and energy to pretend to care about this."

"You realize you've messed up people's lives, right?"

Penelope started counting on her slender fingers. "What, you earned enough money to pay your rent and almost landed a catch as good as Felix Bradford, you got the courage to deal with your supposed marriage. Poppy and Cole are fucking loaded with money, and Felix has all his photography equipment I paid for. Sounds like everyone got a good deal to me.

I shook my head in disbelief. "You truly are crazy."

She laughed. "Darling, the best of us are."

When I got in the lift, I finally checked Instagram to see whatever picture Penelope had been talking about. When it loaded, her post was at the top of my feed, and I almost collapsed when I saw what it was.

No, it couldn't be. Laughter bubbled in my throat.

A picture of her and Nic Clemonte toasting on her balcony.

Exhale trash, Inhale men who are worth your time. It was followed with black heart emojis. That was it. Penelope Aldgate was not only a monster, she was also insane.

It took a few weeks for things to settle down. I tried my best to stick to myself around campus, only sitting with the others when we shared accounting class. Cole was absent most days, and when he was here he looked pretty rough. Poppy said she was trying to get him to stay sober and finish his work. But, I knew it was Jada. Since finding out about them, Poppy had banned Jada from the house.

I thought it was ridiculous, but then nobody had been as screwed over as Poppy. I hadn't seen Ella since that morning in the library, but I knew things hadn't gone well for them after seeing Poppy's relationship status on social media switch to single.

Sebastian and I caught up every other day. He was busy talking to lawyers and other people who I didn't recognize about getting our parents charged with fraud and a plethora of other offences. I didn't care much for the case, even though not caring made me feel guilty. I should have cared, but I felt like the more energy I put into Mom and Dad, the more it burned me in the long run.

So, I took starting fresh seriously. And that meant without them. For once, I put all my trust in my big brother.

"Want a lift home?" Felix asked one afternoon. I think we'd both been careful around each other since all the secrets had come out. With things so fractured for him and his friends, I kept thinking of myself as the outsider who only made things worse.

"Sure," I said. I'd been sitting by myself at Beanz finishing some mandatory reading, but I'd take up time with Felix over that any day. I wonder if he'd noticed me watching him from afar, unasked questions smothering me like a storm cloud over my head.

He offered me a hand gathering my things and then walked with me to the parking lot. The weather was finally starting to warm, and in a rare spot of clear sky the sun brightened the afternoon.

We didn't say much in the car. When we did talk, it was about class or the weather and it felt so stupid. I looked out of the window, wondering if I should cease trying to mend things or whether I should let them fizzle out. By the time he reached my apartment my heart was flying. This couldn't be it for us. It just couldn't be.

"Do you—" I gave it a second through and cringed. "Do you want to come in?"

If he'd known how crappy my apartment was, he might have scoffed and blown me off. But instead he smiled. "Sure thing. I hear it's a privilege."

My face was red as I led him up the peeling staircase and unlocked the door. I silently prayed that my roommate wasn't getting it on next to my room right now, and that I'd closed my window to hide the alley-trash scent from my room.

I unlocked the door and Felix walked to sit on my bed. His hand traced over the intricate quilt and his eyes skimmed the hanger of my favorite clothes pushed to the side of the wall.

"It's a little crammed," I said, dropping my things onto my desk. I could have sat on my desk chair, but I felt that might be a little too formal. On the other hand, I felt like sitting next to him on the bed was too intimate. I settled for leaning against the desk instead.

Only, I'd forgotten how flimsy it was after Sebastian broke it. It collapsed beneath me and I fell to the floor.

"Crap," I muttered as the wood splintered around me. Now it was broken for good.

Felix was laughing, but it was in a nice way. He straightened so he could help me, and as I rose to my feet our torsos touched.

"Sorry," I said. I felt the flush rise to my ears.

He was quiet for a few long moments, our eyes locked and the only audible sound the exhale of our breath. I could feel his fluttering over my cheeks like butterfly wings. My heart was thumping so hard I felt my fingertips tremble. All it would take was one inch—one rise of my hand to his cheek and we'd kiss.

His gaze moved behind me and I was released from his trance.

"Is that my sweater?" I felt the vibration of his chest as he lightly laughed, the sound so gentle it soothed the tension building in my muscles.

"Oh, yeah, I was meaning to return it to you..."

That was a lie. I was hoping he'd forgotten that I'd kept it.

"It's fine," he said. His eyes returned to mine. Oh God. Why was he still standing so close? He had me trapped here. "It looked better on you."

I gulped, holding my breath as his hand moved to touch my hair.

"I remember that day. You had it on over your overall dress and I kept thinking about what it had been like to take it off of you again..."

I couldn't take it anymore. I leaned forward and kissed his lips, and any control I had over my actions exploded away. He kissed me back deeply, and then he was pulling me onto his lap as he fell back onto the bed.

"After everything?" I asked breathlessly, hoping he knew what I meant with just those words. My heart was soaring with a relief so strong it almost made me want to laugh. It was still here—the raw, indestructible chemistry that made my heart race and my willpower turn to mush.

"Yes, Josie."

Felix kissed me, his hands cupping my cheeks. I felt him smile into the kiss in a way that was all too familiar.

"After everything."

Wow!! It's done!!

So it's been a few months since I *actually* finished TBS but I am still feeling so much for these characters! I am SO THANKFUL to you guys for reading and coming this far-for giving me so many comments to laugh at and so many feelings and ideas to go bouncing through my mind.

To say thank you, I've got some bonuses up my sleeve. These aren't pre-written and I have some other cool projects going on right now, so they might not come fast, but I really want to share more with you. So:

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Ann