The morning after the kiss, the entire world felt new. Sunlight streamed into the kitchen, where Clovis and Cinder were having breakfast together. They sat at the small wooden table, their hands linked. They talked and even laughed. The cold billionaire was gone, replaced by a man who looked at Cinder as if she were the most precious thing in the world.
Their peace was broken by the sharp sound of the doorbell.
Cinder's smile faded. "It's them," she whispered. She knew it in her bones.
Clovis squeezed her hand. "Let me."
He walked to the front door, Cinder following just behind him. Lucy and Darla stood there, dressed in their finest clothes, expecting to find Cinder gone and a job opening available.
Lucy's smug smile vanished when she saw Cinder standing beside Clovis. Darla's face twisted in jealousy when she saw how Clovis protectively placed a hand on the small of Cinder's back.
"What are you still doing here?" Lucy snapped, her voice shrill. "We heard about the dinner disaster. We came to offer our Darla as a replacement."
"There is no replacement," Clovis said, his voice calm but firm, like steel. "Cinder is not just my chef. She is the woman I love."
The words hung in the air, powerful and true. Cinder felt her heart swell with joy.
Lucy gasped. Darla looked like she had been slapped. "You can't be serious!" Darla cried. "She's just a poor cook! Look at her! What can she possibly offer you?"
"Everything," Clovis answered simply, his gaze never leaving Cinder's. "She offers kindness, strength, and a heart more valuable than anything I own. You have come here to hurt her and manipulate me for the last time."
He turned his cold gaze to Lucy and Darla. "You are never to set foot on this property again. You are never to contact Cinder again. If you do, my lawyers will be involved. Now, leave."
His authority was absolute. Defeated and seething with rage, Lucy and Darla turned and scuttled away, their plans in ruins.
Clovis closed the door, shutting out the poison of her past. He turned to Cinder, pulling her into his arms. The grand hallway, once a place of such anxiety for her, now felt like a sanctuary.
"They're gone," he whispered into her hair. "It's over. You're free."
Cinder hugged him tightly, finally free from the shadows that had followed her for so long. She was home.
As they stood in the quiet hallway, a profound sense of peace settled over them. The confrontation was over in minutes, but its impact would last a lifetime. Cinder felt a heavy weight lift from her shoulders, a weight she had carried for years. She was no longer the girl her stepfamily could push around. Here, in Clovis's arms, she was loved and protected.
He pulled back slightly, looking down at her. "From now on, this is your home. Not as staff, but as my partner. Everything I have is yours."
Cinder shook her head, a soft smile on her face. "I don't want your money or your things, Clovis. I just want you. The man who reads in the library and loves simple tomato soup."
He kissed her forehead, his heart full. For so long, he had believed his wealth was his greatest asset, but Cinder had shown him it was his greatest barrier. She had seen the man behind the money, and she had chosen him.
"Then you have me," he promised. "Completely."
Hand in hand, they walked away from the door, leaving the ghosts of her past outside where they belonged. The future, bright and full of promise, was waiting for them in the warm, sunlit kitchen, a place where their love had first truly begun to cook.