hapter 9 Chapter 9 Jaxon wrapped his suit jacket tighter around my daughter . He walked over to me , staring at me with all that intensity gone , just this deep hurt in his eyes . He reached out and brushed away my tears with his thumb . " Vanessa , I'm so sorry . " " I should've been there . " Jaxon's car didn't pull up to some hotel . The black Mercedes headed out of the city and stopped in front of this huge estate with fancy iron gates . The gates opened automatically . I squeezed my daughter's hand , my palms all sweaty . Seeing those gates brought everything back - six years ago when they kicked me out . I froze up , grabbing my daughter's hand and reaching for the car door handle , ready to run . " Vanessa ." Jaxon turned off the engine and looked back at me , his voice steady and sure . " Hey, it's okay . I couldn't protect you back then , but today's different . No one's gonna hurt you . " He stopped for a second , then said real slow : " This isn't just about those jerks at school . I'm fixing this whole mess so we never have to deal with any of this crap again . " He walked us through this fancy courtyard with perfect landscaping . There was this older woman with perfectly styled gray hair sitting in some expensive antique chair - Jaxon's mom . She looked me up and down like I was something gross , then stared at my daughter . " You actually had the nerve to come back ? " Her voice was flat and mean . " And you brought this little ... bastard child with you ? " " Mom ! " Jaxon stepped right in front of us , his voice going cold . " Her name is Emma Sullivan . She's my daughter . And this is Vanessa . My wife . " " Wife ? " His mom laughed this bitter laugh , slammed her hand down , and pointed right at me . " Over my dead body ! Some troublemaker who raised a lying little brat - you think she belongs in this family ?! " I looked at Jaxon , holding onto his arm . He actually smiled , but it was this scary kind of smile . " Okay then . " Right there in front of his mom , he pulled out his phone and called his lawyer on speaker . " Robert , we're doing this now . I'm giving up everything - all my shares in Sullivan Holdings , the trust fund , inheritance rights , everything . Get the papers drawn up and sent over within the hour . " We could hear the lawyer freaking out through the phone , and Jaxon's mother started screaming : " Are you out of your goddamn mind ?! " " Nope , I'm thinking pretty clearly . " Jaxon hung up and looked his mom dead in the eye , totally calm . " I didn't come here to ask permission . " " Vanessa and Emma are my family now . Anyone who has a problem with that has a problem with me . " He pulled off his suit jacket and threw it on the ground . Then he grabbed my hand and picked up my daughter . My daughter , who hadn't said a word this whole time , suddenly piped up . Her little face was all red , but she stared right at the old lady and said in this loud , brave voice : " I made my teacher mad ! But I wasn't wrong ! My mom got fired because she protected me ! She's the best mom ever and you can't be mean to her ! " Her little kid voice cut through everything and hit me right in the chest . I just lost it and started bawling . Jaxon's eyes got all watery too . He kissed Emma's forehead , didn't even look at his mom again , and walked out with Emma in his arms and me right beside him . His mom started yelling behind us : " Jaxon ! Get back here ! You're throwing away everything for this woman and her kid ?! " Chapter 9 Jaxon didn't even slow down . " Home is wherever they are . " We finally got out of that horrible place . He drove us to this nice apartment by the river . There was even this cute bedroom all set up for Emma with princess stuff everywhere . After Emma went to sleep , he hugged me from behind and put his face against my neck . " Vanessa , it's just us now . No more family drama , no more bullshit . I got rid of everything that scared you . Will you give me another chance ? Marry me ?" I looked at him , still crying . This guy who'd give up everything for me . I didn't say anything back . Just got on my tiptoes and kissed him . The next morning when I woke up , Jaxon was still holding me tight , and Emma had crawled into bed with us sometime during the night . The newspaper on the table had photos of Principal Martinez and those other jerks getting arrested . I smiled but kept crying at the same time . He squeezed me and Emma even tighter . " Mommy ... " Emma rubbed her face against us , still half asleep . " Are we gonna stay together now ? Really ? " " Yeah . " Jaxon and I both said it at the same time . " We're never gonna be apart again . " I looked out at the water and then at my two favorite people in the whole world . I knew that starting right now , this was our real beginning .