THE END

-ELLIOT-

" You are so fucking hot, I can marry you right now."

" No, seriously! You look absolutely ravishing." I tell myself in the mirror.

God really was in a good mood when he created me. But he was in a fabulous, creative mode when he created Sage. My beautiful baby!

I suck in a deep breath, picking up the fresh the bouquet of one-hundred red roses I got for her and the insanely expensive ring. This is it, Elli! Say it to her today or regret it for the rest of your life.

Fixing my hair, I walk out of my room with the bouquet and ring. Atlas and Shawn were sitting on the table, eating pretzels while watching a crime documentary.

" Hey! Those for me?" Atlas teases immediately as he sees me.

" In your dreams," I roll my eyes at him.

" Where is my baby?" I look at Shawn as he chuckles.

" Your baby is gardening for three hours straight now, she denies to come inside." he shakes his head before going back to watching his program.

" Where?"

Atlas points towards the backyard as I pick out a rose, throwing at him.

" Thank you!" he smiles brightly.

Hiding the ring in my pocket, I walk outside into the backyard which was spread a few acres. I spot Sage sitting on the ground, in a beautiful maxi dress and a straw hat as she plants peonies. Her hair was flowing freely, much healthy and glowing now. She had a bright smile on her face as she looked at all of the flowers around her. Less did she know, she is the most beautiful one out of all of them.

" Sage." She flinches at my sudden voice, as I curse myself immediately for scaring her.

" Oh hey, Elli." she smiles as soon as she sees me.

" For my princess," I say, handing her the huge bouquet.

She takes it from me meekly, looking at it in awe.

" For me?" she asks, astonished.

She still doesn't believe she is worth someone's time and love. She just finds it weird that someone would gift her things. Don't worry my baby, I will heal all the bruises your soul has.

" Of course for you and this is very small, you deserve the entire world." I say, plopping on the ground beside her, not caring if I get my expensive suit dirty.

She looks at the roses as a small smile adoring her face as she hugs the bouquet.

" Thank you, Elli. These are really beautiful." she mumbles.

" Mark this day, Sage because as long as I live, I will gift you a hundred red roses every year on this day." I wiggle my eyebrows at her as she giggles.

I'm not joking! Sage deserves it and I will do everything to make her know her worth.

" Look at all this flowers I planted. And I'm thinking of making a separate garden for hydrangea flowers, daisies, dahlias and carnations." she chirps, as she picks up a branch, planting it.

" Cool! I love carnations and hydrangeas are my favorite." I say as she smiles.

I'm lying! I don't even know what they are. But if my Sage says they're good, they are good- no one can convince me otherwise.

" Sage, I want to say something for a while now." I mumble.

By 'for a while' I mean, eighteen years. Things would've been so fucking different if I said these words eighteen years ago.

" Go ahead, Elli. I'm listening." she says, focusing on planting the flowers.

" I love you, Sage! I don't know any other way to put it. I don't know how to say cheesy words like Hades, I don't know how to make big promises like Enrique. All I know is that I love you, I always have and nothing in this world has the power to change it." I spill out my heart in front of her.

Sage freezes for a moment, the little hand shovel falls from her hand as she looks at me silently.

" I've hurt you a lot all these years by not reciprocating your love, right?" she mumbles.

" No, I kept my feelings away from you. Don't blame yourself, my love." I immediately protest. I did not want her to accept my love out of guilt, I don't want to get her love by manipulating her.

" I'm sorry, Elli but I'm going to break your heart today too. After all these months, I have grown confident and love my self but that doesn't change my past." she says as tears pool in her eyes.

" Oh honey, your past has never affected my love for you and it never will. I love you for what you are and always will. My love didn't fade when you were raped, it grew more." I say cupping her cheeks as her lips tremble. Her little button nose grows red as she looks away from me.

" You don't know things, Elliot. Se-sean abused me when I was with Hades. Then . . . men at the asylum that's why I escaped from the asylum. Then I was on the streets for months; alone, starved and vulnerable. A lot has happened to me on the streets, the dirty alleyways and drains and. . . you'll be disgusted by me." she sobs, her body shaking as she crawls away from me.

Stupid Elliot! You made her sad. She was so happy right now! I can kill myself right now for making this angel cry.

I grip her arm, pulling her on my lap as she gasps.

" Listen to me carefully, Sage Martinez, I fucking love you. And when I say nothing in this world can change that, I fucking mean it. You can sit here and tell me everything that you have suffered, in perfect details and my love will grow for you more with each passing second. I can never be disgusted by you. Nothing in this world has the ability to make Elli be disgusted from his Sage." I say, cupping her cheeks as she looks into my eyes.

" I can't have babies." she whispers.

" We'll adopt them." I whisper, throwing her straw hat away before running my fingers through her hair.

" I have PTSD."

" We'll fight it together."

" I'm a drug addict."

" And I'm addicted to you."

" I have digestive issues."

" I'll cook for you."

" My body isn't healthy."

" Honey, I'm not asking you to participate in the Olympics! Just. . . trust me. Take my hand, and I will not leave it till my last breath, no matter what happens." I say, forwarding my hand to her.

She looks at it for a second before placing her hand on mine. I felt as if god has granted me everything I've wished for the moment she took my hand. I smile, planting a kiss on her forehead. She places her head on my chest as we sit there silently, in each other's arms.

" Elli." she mumbles.

I hum in response, planting another kiss on her forehead.

" I don't want to get married now. I want to travel, feel free and careless, I want to learn to love myself. Most importantly, I want to build an organization for the rape and abuse victims." she says, as I smile proudly at my girl.

" Yes! You will do everything you want and you will climb the ladder of success and self-love. And whenever you'll look back, you'll always find me having your back; I will always be there to protect you. And when you'll stand in a room of applauses and praises, you'll always see me clapping the loudest for you." I say as she sobs, hugging me tightly.

" There is one more thing." I say, fishing out the ring from my pocket.

She looks at it in awe before frowning.

" This looks so expensive." She whispers.

" Not expensive enough to be on your finger. This is temporary, I'll buy a better one when we get married," I wink at her, as I slide the ring on her finger.

She smiles down at the ring before I lean down, planting a gentle kiss on her lips.

" Now, let's go. Shawn sat you're out here for hours." I say, picking her up.

She giggles in my arms as a smile immediately comes on my face. Her laughs just make me so happy.

" No! Shawn is lying." she says, kissing my jaw.

I walk inside the house, as the cold atmosphere washes over me. Whoa! I didn't even realize how hot it was out there. Have to install air conditioners in the garden if my Sage wants to work there. Air conditioners in the garden? Hmmm, something sounds wrong about that.

I place Sage down as she runs towards Atlas and Shawn, crashing their little party. Shawn hugs Sage, pushing Atlas away as he and Sage cuddle to each other.

" What about me? Boyfriend thief!" Atlas playfully growls at Sage.

Shawn and Sage immediately stick their tongues out at Atlas as I laugh.

Life is finally coming back on track. Sage is healing, she has become more sarcastic and playful like she used to be. Shawn has decided to go back to med school and complete his education even though he is twenty-five and we all supported him.

Dreams don't die, they stay with you and slowly transform into regret.

I've purchased a huge mansion away from the Martinez house for us- we don't need negativity from our families. It's on renovation at the moment, I want it to be the way Sage used to talk about when we were kids. Her perfect dream house.

" Sage," I internally groan at the sight of my brother.

He was standing near Sage, all dressed up and had a few suitcases by his side. This motherfucker is leaving? Whoa! God, am I in your good books now that you're doing so many good things for me? Is it because I killed John last week? He was a pedophile. Or was it because of the bastard Owen? Meh! Nevermind.

" You're leaving?" Sage questions.

" Yeah, but I needed to talk to you before I leave." he says as my heart skips a beat.

" I need to say something before that! I proposed to Sage and she said yes!" I interrupt him harshly.

Just to be on the safe side so he doesn't begin manipulating Sage into his 'love' shit. Atlas and Shawn pass me 'you crazy' looks before they stare back at Enrique.

" I have to confess something. I'm-" Enrique says.

He is going to confess his love! He is going to manipulate her into being with him. NO!

" I'm pregnant!" I scream.

" No, you're not." Atlas says as he rolls on the table, laughing.

" Sage, I wanna say that-"

" Sage, I'm feeling dizzy." I cut him off again.

" Elliot please!" Enrique snaps at me.

" When we found you on the streets, I thought god has given me a second chance. I tried my best to be good to you but Hades was always a step ahead of me. He took care of you more and I could see you loved him more than me. I was jealous and desperate to get him out of my way." Enrique says.

Oh . . . okay. This sounds interesting.

" What did you do?" Sage snarls at him angrily.

" I was the one who informed Sean that Hades was planning to murder him that night and I was the one who told Sean about our hotel room. That's why Sean was prepared for Hades and took Hades down that night and came to our room. I didn't mean to hurt you, I just wanted to make you hate Hades. Then, when we got back, you still were connected to him so, I. . ." Enrique trails off, looking at the floor in shame.

" You what?" Sage screams, gripping his collar harshly.

" I drugged him. The drug triggers the anger hormones which is why Hades kept slapping you and tried to force himself on you. Hades kept saying he couldn't control his actions but everyone thought he was making excuses. I'm sorry, Sage." Enrique hangs his head low in front of her.

Whoa! What the fuck did Lopez consume when she was pregnant with Enrique!? My boy's wicked mind runs faster than Usain Bolt.

" You monster!" she screams, giving him a loud slap on his face.

" I hate you, Enrique! I hate you! You bloody asshole." Sage screams, as she keeps on slapping him.

" I never . . . ever wanna see your face again. Even if I'm dying, don't show me your face. Don't come near me even if I'm dead. I don't even want to breathe the same air as you. Get the fuck outta my life, Enrique Princeton. There was once a time when I would've gladly died for you and I'm so happy that fate showed me what your real face is." she screams, giving him a harsh shove on the shoulder.

" I'm sorry. Goodbye." he says, looking at her.

" Go!" she screams.

" Bye," he whispers to me before he grabs his bags and walks out.

Finally gone!

" Are going to meet Hades?" I ask as soon as Enrique is gone.

Maybe Sage will feel bad for him after Enrique's confession. There goes my love. Am I back into your bad books, god? Was it because I killed Clarissa last week? Come on, she deserved it!

" No! My only regret is that I wasn't there to watch that. It would've been fun to watch Hades drove out of his mind as he walked around confused of his actions. He felt what's its like when your body and mind don't connect. I wish I could see that look of agony on his face, the same agony I suffered for months." Sage says, as I sigh in relief.

Am I in your good books again, god?

Sabrina, Jared and Josephine were standing in the corner silently watching it. Sabrina comes forward, looking at Sage with teary eyes.

" We're sorry too, Sage. Please give us another chance." Sabrina says. Jared stands beside her and they both look at Sage desperately.

" I'm never going to forgive you for hurting Sage, Sabrina. And Jared Martinez, I decided to rather die than forgive you when I was a child." Shawn growls at them.

" But I'm not going to force my decision on you, Sage. You can choose whatever you want, I will support you." he says to Sage.

" I can forgive my abuser but I can never forgive my mumma's murderer. And Sabrina, I'm sorry. I really want to forgive you because I loved you a lot, maybe a lot more than I loved Shawn. But now, my heart just doesn't feel anything for you. You betrayed me so many times that whenever I look at you; your lies, your taunts, your dirty accusations and the countless amount of beatings I got because of you flashes into my mind." she says as Jared falls on his knees crying.

" Shawn and I will move out in a few days with Elliot and Josephine. Mr. Jared, you and your favorite daughter can stay together peacefully now. Your dirty, trash daughter and imbecile son won't trouble you anymore." Sage shoots their words back at them, as Sabrina and Jared wail out in pain.

What goes around, comes around. Whoever said this, wasn't fucking kidding.

-FIVE YEARS LATER-

" My name is Sage and that was my story. It started of as a fairytale or at least I thought it was one, all it took was one incident and I was slapped back to reality. Today, looking back I don't feel sad about it. I feel powerful that I survived it. So many masks fell off because of that incident and I'm glad I was able to kick them all out of my life."

" I'm thankful for my brother, no matter how many times I say this but the truth remains that he was one of my strongest pillar in this war. You gave me a lot of strength, I wouldn't have done this without you, Shawn!"

" Last but surely not the least, Elliot, you're the best, best, bested, best friend I could ever have. And you're an even wonderful husband and father. You made me know my worth, you made me feel confident and powerful. We've been married for three years now and your love is the reason I grow powerful each day. Your love made me who I am today. I love you so much, Elli and nothing in this world will be able to change it." Sage stood on the stage proudly, as the room full of people applauded her.

She looked at them, a smile on her face to see Elliot standing in front of them all clapping the loudest. She still remembers the promise he made to her years ago and today, in a room full of people who are proud of Sage, he is still clapping the loudest.

" That's my wife!" He announces loudly and proudly. Not an inch of embarrassment or disgust crossed his face and Sage knew she chose the right man!

" Also, I would like to thank the little bundles of joy in my life. My five-month-old daughter, Sagel, and my two-year-old son, Rhysand. I love you so much, my children. You just made my world so much better." Sage says, looking at their adopted children who were in Elliot's lap.

Rhysand claps loudly, looking at his beautiful mumma on the stage as Sagel chews on Elliot's tie.

" Also, a shoutout to Nate! My adorable little nephew." Sage says to Atlas and Shawn's adopted son.

" It wasn't an easy journey, I could never think I would end up here even in my best dreams. But I made it here and today, I'm so proud of myself. I've built this organization for thousands of Sages out there." Sage says, wiping away the tears that rolled down her cheeks.

" I know it's hard but one day, you'll make it and when you'll look back you'll realize each and every little sacrifice you made was so worth it."

-♡-

So, this is it. I'm crying so hard right now. I grew so fond of all of you and so fond of all of these characters. I'm going to miss everything about this story, especially you all.

You guys made this book so much better, I love you all.