Rich People Problems

epilogue | nine months

KIMBERLY

nine months later

"DOES THIS LOOK burnt to you?" I asked Jace, looking down at the freshly-baked buns I pulled out of the oven.

They looked fine on top, but the smell coming out of them was every indication otherwise.

Jace looked over from the salad he was preparing with a confused look on his face. "They smell burnt."

"Jackass, that's why I'm asking," I retorted, rolling my eyes. "The smell is making me nauseous."

He narrowed his eyes at me and made his way over.

It was nice to know that after a little over a year of being married, we still annoyed the shit out of each other. For our one year anniversary, Jace and I decided to take a well-overdue honeymoon to Bali, enjoying three weeks of endless sex and exploring the island and local food.

We spent the months before that swamped with work, so it was nice to take a vacation with just the two of us.

But, after we got back, I realized that we never had an official housewarming dinner after getting married, hence us making food for everyone who was coming in a few hours.

So far, Rina was already with us for the weekend. Besides Dar, who was relinquished of his duties as my bodyguard and already had another assignment with the security company that hired him, everyone else was coming.

Ash and Lia were stronger than ever, her accepting the promise ring in Japan and him getting the scare of his life when I decorated his apartment clown-themed for his birthday when he got back.

Gigi was excited to start her internship in January, after graduating from law school this past summer. Even though her being in Valdonia would leave a void in our hearts, we were still optimistic about visiting each other at every moment.

Van and Vivi were also content with their relationship, taking things slow and balancing each other out. I couldn't describe how happy it made me to see my best-friend so in love. She was still the rigid Vivi I knew and loved, but Savannah made her brighter.

Emre was back in New York for the foreseeable future, flirting relentlessly with my cousin. Addison did her best to brush him off, but I caught her lacking, smiling when she thought no one else was looking.

Audrey, Azariah, and Caiden all graduated—it was really a summer of graduations—from Bellevue Academy and were off to college. They were all staying in New York. Audrey going to NYU for dance and psychology, Aza going to FIT for fashion design, and Caiden pursuing a pre-med path at Columbia like Lia. 

What can I say? Wanting to leave New York was difficult.

Ana and Audrey were the only ones with no semblance of a relationship, the former thinking men were disgusting despite being attracted to them and the latter getting rejected by Caiden.

The two were still really good friends, but I knew my baby cousin was hurting.

And thinking about her being upset made me really upset.

God, I've been so emotional lately.

The look of hesitation on Jace's face wasn't making it any better as he used a spatula to lift one of the buns up.

I can't believe it.

The entire bottom was burnt.

I could already feel the tears coming. "Why can't I make anything?"