Epilogue: We meet again.

Beth got down from her car as the driver closed the door. Her bag was in her left hand, she wore her sunglasses in her right hand.

Just as she was about to head into the building, her phone rang. She checked her bag quickly and brought it out, checking the screen for who the caller was. Then, she picked up the call.

"Hi, Darl. How's it going?" Tony's husky voice was heard from the other side of the phone.

"Uh, I just arrived at the school. I was held down by the traffic," she responded.

"Oh, sorry about that, love. Make sure to call me after the meeting, then. Luca and I need to be at the flower shop in a couple of minutes."

"Alright. See ya!" She hung up the call and smiled.

Life with Tony ever since they got married has been the best thing. She had always wanted love as pure and loyal as anything, but not only did she find that. She also found a family in the man she loves. And even after birthing two kids, he still loved her as much as he did when they started their relationship.

She walked into the empty hallway of Royales Elementary School, her heels making ko-ko sounds as they clicked on the tiled floor. She stopped when she arrived at the Principal's office. Written boldly on the door tag was the principal's name; Principal Mullins. Beth knocked and then walked into the open office.

A young girl of about five years of age, who was in the school's uniform ran up to her. The striking resemblance between them was enough to tell that she was Beth's daughter.

"Mum!" The girl shouted excitedly as she ran up to her mother.

"Emily!" Beth called and carried her up. She pulled her cheek playfully, smiling at her from ear to ear. "How're you?"

"Fine, mum. We were just waiting for you. Why are you late?" The girl's face drew a small frown and Beth patted her head slowly.

"I'm so sorry, love. I was caught up in traffic," she said to her. The girl nodded and she then dropped her on the floor and walked further into the office. "Madam," Beth said to the principal when she got to her table. "I apologize for coming late."

"It's fine, ma'am," Principal Mullins replied with a smile. "Please, have your seat."

Opposite the Principal's table was a woman seated, her back turned to Beth. On the chair next to her was a young boy in uniform, who looked like he was about Emily's age group. Beth dragged the chair next to the woman and sat on it, as her daughter also sat on the one next to hers. She was still helping her daughter sit upright when the principal started talking.

"I called you both here because of the fight your kids were involved in with each other," the principal started with a serious expression on her face. "It's not the first time that Emily and Omarion would have silly fights with each other in class, despite being friends. I called you both to caution your kids because it's getting too recurrent."

Beth and the other woman turned to face each other at the same time, for the first time that afternoon. "I'm so sorry for…" Their voices trailed off as they stared at each other, their eyes opening wide in shock.

"Lara?" Beth called out to her.

"Oh my God, Beth?" The other woman, who happened to be Lara, also called out. "Gosh, how have you been?" She asked as her face lit up in smiles.

The principal's phone rang at that moment and she excused herself, leaving the ladies and their kids behind.

"I've been doing fine. What about you?" Beth asked.

"You know Emily's mum?" Omarion, Lara's five-year-old son asked her.

"Yes, love. I do." She said, placing her arm around his neck.

"Is she your friend?" Her son asked again.

"Yeah, we uh…" Lara started but stopped midway. The memories she had with Beth during the past years came rushing through her mind, and she let out a sigh. "We used to be."

"Now you're enemies?" Her inquisitive son asked innocently.

Seeing that the questions made Lara uncomfortable, Beth immediately changed the topic of discussion for the kids. "Why don't you beautiful ones go back to class till we're done with your principal?" She said to Emily and turned to Omarion too, flashing him a smile.

Omarion stood up from his chair and headed to the door after telling his mum that he'll see her when she was done with the principal.

"Bye, mum!" Emily shouted, her tiny voice resounding in the room as she waved to her mum and followed closely behind Omarion.

"See you after the meeting!" Beth waved back to her and both mums watched them leave, before turning back to sit upright. Silence followed, as Beth picked up her phone and began to navigate from one app to another. She was only doing that because of the awkwardness between them.

Lara however, decided to start a conversation with her. She cleared her throat. "How's the family? I guess her father was busy, which was why he couldn't make it here. Same with Omarion's dad, so, I had to take his place."

"Yeah, Tony had to sort out a few things, so he couldn't make it here."

Lara gave a small smile. "You do deserve each other."

"I know, right." Beth chuckled lightly.

"And what about Luca? Is he still in the country?"

"Yeah. He's getting married in a few days. That's why Tony couldn't make it here today. They have a lot of preparations to make, you know."

"Woah!" Lara flashed a sincere smile at her. "I'm so happy for him!"

"Thank you, Lara. And yes, you're invited. If you don't mind, I have an invitation letter in my car, I could give it to you before you leave."

"Sure, I'd love to attend. I love parties, you know? Not to talk of a long-time friend's wedding. I wouldn't want to miss it," she said and they both laughed.

"You haven't changed one bit," Beth said.

"Yes, I'm still beautiful, but nah, I've changed a whole lot, like in a lot of ways," Lara said and faced Beth. "I know how much you must hate me now, because of everything I put you through."

"Hate? Why would I hate you? Hate is a strong word, fam." Beth replied quickly.

Lara let out a sigh. "I reflected over everything that happened between us within the last couple of years. Due to the fight, our friendship group crashed and we all separated. Never would I have thought that to happen to us. I wanted us to attend each other's weddings, let our kids become friends and also be—"

"Our kids turned out to be friends though," Beth said with a smile on her face, trying to ease the inconvenience Lara was feeling at the moment.

"True," Lara replied and chuckled lightly. "But not the way I planned. If they hadn't been involved in a fight, and if the principal hadn't called us, we wouldn't have met again. At some point, I had wanted to reach out to you to apologize, but I found out that you left the country."

"Yeah. I left the country a few weeks after my stepmother called my mum to insult her that we planned some stuff against her and tried to destroy her home." Beth explained.

"That was me too. I was the one that told the lie to your stepmother after Yeesha spoke to me and supported you. I was offended and wanted to revenge, so I did that." A sorry look appeared on her face as she looked at Beth.

"I knew it was you, I found out that, and truly, it did hurt me a lot. All the things you did back then, I never expected it. If I were you, I wouldn't have done any of that because I valued our friendship more than anything else." Beth paused and turned to face her squarely, moving her chair closer to Lara's. "I really loved you, Lara. You were like a sister to me, and that made it even more hurtful when you told lies against me and painted me as a bad person to the public."

"I know. Honestly, I know, but I realized my mistake a little too late. I was mean, and I was wrong in every single way. I figured out that I was the problem, and I always wanted everything for myself without caring about others, just as Yeesha told me then. Grace and Janet who always supported every wrong thing I did, gave me a piece of their minds months later too. I flared up, and chased them out of my house, just like I did to Yeesha. But I knew they were all telling me facts, but because it stung, I cut ties with them. I realized that the bullying I put you through and the gaslighting was wrong in any way.

"I'm a mother now, and I understand how your mother would have felt when I put you through all that. I would never imagine that to happen to my child, not to talk of someone you called your best friend." Lara said, her eyes getting clouded.

"After I heard that you left the country and changed numbers, I swear, I had gone back to your mother's house to ask of her and to apologize for everything, but I was told she had gone abroad too." She placed her hands on Beth's, squeezing them. "I am so sorry, Beth. I am really sorry. If I was to come back to another world, I would choose you over and over again to be my best friend and confidante. I'm so sorry, Beth. I hope you'll find a place in your heart to forgive me and let it go."

"Hey, it's all in the past now. Come here," Beth said and pulled her into a hug. They were still in that position when Lara's phone rang. They released each other and she picked up her call.

"Hello, dear. Yeah, that's where I am." Pause. "Sure, sure. Guess who I ran into at his school? Beth!" There was a pause. "Like, yes! I was fucking surprised, you should have seen my face!" Pause. "Yeah, we'll talk more when I'm home. Take care, later dear." She said and hung up the call.

"I guess that's someone I know?"

"Yeah," Lara dropped her phone on the table. "It's my love, Omarion's dad."

"Uh…" Beth looked at her confusedly.

"Yes, it's Damien." She smiled.

"You guys are now like, you know?"

Lara burst into laughter at how she said it. "Yeah, yeah. Well, I figured out that I still feel for him, and he also wanted me back, with his son. So, yes, I'm his baby mama."

"Aww," Beth cooed, sincerely happy that she got back with the actual father of her baby. "Hope his wife isn't, you know?"

"Nah," Lara chuckled. "She's a sweet person and accepts me the way I am. I like her too."

"I'm so happy for you, girl," Beth said and nudged her and they both chuckled.

Just then, the principal rushed into her office and their heads turned in her direction. "I am so so sorry for keeping you waiting, madams. I didn't know it would take me so long." She pleaded with them.

"Nah, it's fine," Beth said.

"Yeah. In fact, thank you for the space you gave us. A duel has just been resolved after years," Lara said, smiling at Beth, who also smiled back at her.

Not understanding what she meant, the principal simply nodded her head and sat on her office chair and faced them. "So, back to the reason I asked to meet you two," she said, continuing their meeting where they had stopped it.