Falling for My Ex’s Mafia Dad — Episode 90
Fay accepted the key as an invitation, not a contract. She told Kent they would choose a home together only after his monitor came off and the divestment survived its first audit.
He returned the key to the box for safekeeping. Waiting no longer felt like losing control; it felt like respecting a future neither needed to seize.
They toured modest houses under assumed viewing names, not to hide from law but to avoid spectacle. Kent disliked low ceilings, while Fay rejected any property with gates resembling the estate.
One house overlooked a public park and had a room bright enough for a nursery. Its locks were ordinary, its neighbors close, and its garden visible from the street.
Kent worried visibility weakened security. Fay said community could protect differently than isolation. People noticed one another when walls did not train them to look away.
They placed no offer yet. The act of imagining breakfast, toys, and sleepless nights was enough for one afternoon.
Ivan’s plea hearing occurred the following week. He admitted unlawful surveillance, evidence manipulation, and endangerment while describing Grant’s coercion without using it as absolution.
He received a reduced custodial sentence and witness-protection review afterward. The Kozlov syndicate formally disowned him, ending the criminal identity he had inhabited.
Fay sent no personal letter. Mara forwarded clinic information about trauma programs available inside his facility. Care could exist without intimacy.
Victoria moved into her own apartment near Janeen and began long-term treatment. The two women developed an uneasy friendship built around loving the same daughter from different chapters of her life.
David struggled with Victoria’s return but refused competition. He remained Fay’s father because he had done the work, not because another parent disappeared.
Daniel and Colin planned to leave after Kent’s monitor expired. Daniel would manage a nonprofit converting seized warehouses into housing rather than inherit shipping routes.
Kent attended counseling without court reminders. He began apologizing to former employees and victims through a mediated restitution process, accepting that some refused contact.
The clinic maternity wing reopened construction. Fay removed every family crest from the design and dedicated the center to people who rebuilt chosen lives after coercion.
During a routine ultrasound, the doctor confirmed the baby was developing well. Fay and Kent chose not to learn the sex, preserving one surprise no enemy could weaponize.
Kent asked whether the child would carry Lippert, Alden, Thompson, or another name. Fay said they would decide later; a surname should describe belonging, not ownership.
That evening, the family gathered at the unfinished clinic for a small celebration. Fiona brought champagne for everyone except Fay and teased Kent about his new expertise in sparkling water.
For once, no armed guard interrupted. No hidden phone rang. The absence of crisis felt strange enough that Fay kept waiting for the next blow.
Kent noticed and asked her to walk onto the rooftop. Beneath the city lights, he told her he had arranged nothing, purchased nothing, and asked no one’s permission.
Then he took out the diamond Daniel once used for the fake engagement, reset in a simple new band, and asked, “Fay Thompson, when you are ready—not before—will you choose to marry me?”