Chapter 95 | The Epilogue (NOOOOOO)

Isabella:

9 years later...

"You still not ready yet Mrs Miller?"

I gaze up to meet Lucas' eyes in the mirror, pausing with straightening out my dress. I quirk an eyebrow as I watch him trail his gaze down my body before a satisfied smile pulls at his lips.

"I'm not quite a Miller or a Mrs yet I'm afraid," I return, with a little shake of my head.

My response only causes the smile on his lips to widen. Lucas lifts off from where he's leaning against the doorframe and crosses the room to come and stand behind me. His fingers lightly trail down my arms before he envelopes my midsection, pressing a kiss to the crown of my head and resting his chin on my shoulder. "Soon enough you will be anyways."

"Hm I don't know," I tease, resting one of my hands on top of his , "I thought you were going to change your name to Quintero. Lucas Quintero has a nice ring to it doesn't it?"

He nods against me, smiling and pressing another kiss against my bare shoulder. "It does."

A quiet sigh pushes past my lips as Lucas continues trailing featherlight kisses up my shoulder to my neck and stopping at the sensitive patch of skin beneath my ear. I take in our reflections in the mirror in front of us as he does so; Lucas with his soft hair and striking hazel eyes, the strong lines of his jaw and cheekbones, his tall frame and masculine build. Me with my tan skin and long, dark hair, my large brown eyes, the beauty spot on my cheek and my shorter, curvier body - we contrast each other so much yet match together so well.

"You look so beautiful," Lucas murmurs, his fingers twiddling the ends of my curled hair.

The corner of my mouth lifts into a soft smile. "I know," I reply, turning around so that we're face to face, "so do you."

Lucas leans forward and tries to kiss me but I inch my head away, stopping him with my fingers to his lips.

"No kissing, you'll ruin my makeup."

He pulls back slightly, pouting. "Can't you re apply."

I shake my head. "Mia put me under very strict instructions not to do anything that would ruin my makeup, it took her hours to transform my entire face into this," I wave a hand in front of my face for emphasis.

"Just one kiss, please."

I shake my head. "No, sorry amor."

His pout deepens. "C'mon baby, please. Just one."

I wrinkle my nose.

Lucas throws me another look.

I cave in with a resigned sigh.

"Alright," I cup his cheek with my left hand, the sun streaming through the window catching on the diamond on my ring finger.

Despite being in heels, Lucas still continues to tower over me, so I get on my tiptoes as he bows his head and inch my lips closer to his. I give him a quick peck on the mouth and attempt to pull away but of course, Lucas being Lucas, guides me back to his lips with his palm on my nape before I even get to create a slither of distance between us. He slips his tongue into my mouth and all is lost in the world - I don't try to pull away again, Lucas' kisses are like dynamite.

I keep my hands cupped to his face so that I don't mess up his neatly styled hair and Lucas holds me in place by keeping one hand on the back of my neck and the other on my waist. His tongue is soft and caressing against mine and we continue kissing until there's a large clang and then a shout and both Lucas and I prise away from each other in surprise like we're on fire.

"Ohmygod! Lucas!" Mia's frame comes into view and she screeches so loud my ears begin to ring. "What on earth are you doing! You're not supposed to see the bride!"

Lucas winces, covering his ears. "It was an accident," his response is droned out by Mia's cursing, as she begins shoving him out the bridal suite.

"Do you want your marriage to be cursed! What is wrong with you! Don't you know the tradition?"

"Dude I just wanted to see her! I couldn't wait!"

"Ugh! Where is Grace? She was supposed to be on guard duty!"

Mia pushes the door open and peeks out into the hallway. Letting go of Lucas' collar she throws her hands in the air is frustration at what she sees. Lucas stifles a laugh behind his hand and I rush over to what is happening.

I peek my head round the door frame to see Grace bright red, lifting the strap of her bridesmaids dress back onto her shoulder and Aidan fixing the belt of his pants.

"I can't believe the two of you were in the middle of creating baby number two when you were supposed to be watching out for that one!" Mia chastises, patting down Grace's now messy hair and glaring at Lucas. "You know how he is!"

Grace swats Mia's hands away. "We were not creating baby number two out in the freaking hallway. We have more shame than that," she grumbles in denial. "Plus we can barely handle baby number one let alone create another."

"Sure." Lucas grins teasingly. "Where is my munchkin anyways, I haven't seen Eliza all day."

"She's with Dylan, napping," Aidan replies with a quirk of an eyebrow, "probably to get away from her overbearing Uncle Lucas."

Lucas narrows his eyes. "I am not overbearing."

"Yes you are and it's why our daughter hates you."

My fiancé sputters out a gasp. "She does not hate me."

"Well she definitely prefers Uncle Dylan over you."

"Wow is this how you're treating a man on his wedding day, you are sick." Lucas shakes his head and crosses his arms across his chest stubbornly, the material straining under his biceps. "You know what, I'm gonna go wake her up and prove to you that she doesn't hate me and that she likes me better than Dylan," he says Dylan's name in disgust and turns away storming off.

Mia chases after him. "Oh no you don't! You have to be at the altar in 10 minutes!"

Lucas picks up the pace and begins to run down the hall like a child, gazing over his shoulder in alarm at Mia sprinting after him in 5 inch heels.

"My soon to be husband everybody," I deadpan. "Running through hallways after napping babies on his wedding day. You think there's still time for me to back out of the marriage?"

Aidan nods his head encouragingly. "Yes. Can I get your honeymoon tickets to Bali, you won't be needing them if you don't get married."

Grace giggles and hooks her arm through mine. "No backing out, now c'mon let's retouch your makeup."

***

After that frankly chaotic interval, Mia had managed to prise Lucas away from trying to wake up Aidan and Grace's 1 year old and both Dylan and Aidan had coaxed him back into the groom's suite for the last finishing touches - which basically consisted of wiping away my lipstick from his face and straightening out his suit.

Grace had helped touch up on my makeup as well as fixing her own tousled hair and I had spent a good 20 minutes afterwards just admiring my reflection.

There was not a single doubt swarming my mind that stopped me from appreciating how beautiful I looked. My dress was absolutely gorgeous; it was an elegant A-line styled dress with a plunge neck, low back and dropped capped sleeves. Crafted in lace tulle with a simple embroidered bodice it gave me a graceful timeless look that flattered my body really well. My hair was curled and pulled into a simple half up half down hairstyle and my makeup was simple, not too over the top but enough to accentuate my features and give me a glowy look.

My mom, grandmother and sister had stopped by to check on me after dealing with some issues with the music and the caterers and both my mother and abuela had burst into tears at the sight of me all ready. Sofia beside them had simply thrown me an encouraging thumbs up before turning her attention to Mia to ask if she could borrow her lipgloss when my mom was preoccupied with sobbing her eyes out.

After that, my father had knocked on my door to let me know that it was time and with one last hug from all the women in the room, we began to make our way down to the hall leading to where my entrance would begin.

***

"Are you ready mija," my dad smiles at me warmingly as the soft hum of the bride music begins to echo through the doorway once the bridesmaids and groomsmen finish making their entrance.

I nod, mirroring his smile, my tummy swarming with excited butterflies. "Yes."

Taking a deep breath and clutching tightly onto my bouquet of ivory peonies, we both begin to walk forward through the large oak doors leading to the outdoor venue where the ceremony is taking place.

White rose petals are sprinkled out onto the isle and the late afternoon sun casts a soft golden glow across the sage green and cream themed set up. Everything looks absolutely beautiful. It is quaint and simple and so, so gorgeous.

I'm met with smiles all around as I make my way closer to the altar but everyone and everything simply melts away into a hazy blur in my peripheral vision as my eyes meet Lucas'.

Despite only seeing him not too long ago, the emotion already clogging my throat multiplies in tenfold and my eyes grow glassy with tears at the sight of him standing there at the front, waiting for me, looking as handsome as ever.

Lucas rubs a hand over his chin as our gazes interlock and tears sparkle in his eyes too, the deep swallow of his Adam's apple showing me that he's trying his best not to cry.

Only that fails as when I finally get to the front of the altar and my dad kisses my cheek and Lucas takes his hands in mine, the tears begin to flow out of his eyes steadily.

"Stop crying," I say, through my own tears. "You're making me cry."

"I can't," he rubs at his eyes with his fingers. "It's just hitting me how real this is, how I'm about to marry my best friend."

A ripple of awes erupt from the crowd and I begin crying harder, half laughing and mostly sobbing. I can't even rub my eyes because it'll smudge my entire face so I'm left standing there with tears streaming out of my eyes. I try to get myself under wraps so the officiant can begin to speak and as I'm busy willing myself to stop the tears from leaking out of my eyes, Lucas leans towards the guy and murmurs something only he can hear.

The officiant nods in reply to whatever Lucas tells him and takes a little step back.

"Izzy," Lucas then says, squeezing my hand to get my attention. I stop dabbing at my eyes and look up at him.

"Yeah?"

His mouth curls into a smile as he gently takes my hand and slips something into my palm. I close my fist in reflex as I feel material of paper, my heart only continuing to swell as Lucas raises my closed fist, turns it over to press a soft kiss over my pulse all whilst keeping contact with me.

I pull my bottom lip into my mouth to stop another batch of tears from spilling out of my eyes and with shaky hands, open the note.

"I can't wait to spend the rest of forever with you."

I gaze up to Lucas, with blurry eyes and a wobbly smile. "I can't wait either."

THE END.

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(THE FINAL) AUTHORS NOTE:

well guys i'm actually gonna bawl my eyes out i cannot believe it's over :'(

if you made it this far, 95, long freaking chapters later, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU, I LOVE YOU SO SO SO SO MUCH, oml your patience is unmatched

i fr am gonna miss writing this book so much, what you caused has been a very, very LENGTHY journey but it's been my comfort to write - izzy and lucas and all the characters in this story will always be my my babies :( i started this book back in july 2020 when i was bored out of my mind in quarantine and i didn't ever stop to imagine that we would be here all the way in october 2021 with over 4 million reads and a whole ass completed book, i am so so grateful. i just wanna say thank you so incredibly much once again for reading, i've made so many friends on here and you guys have been the sweetest. if you read this book because you relate with isabella's experience, i wish all the best for you, i love you so much and i am so so proud of you and if you read this book just for the romance, i hope you get ur lucas one day or get love like isabella and lucas do and i love you so much too :') <3333

lastly, a big, huge thank you to my cousin ilikebigveinydicks who helped me so so much with this story, ily bum.

i'm gonna miss you guys sm, lots and lots and lots of love  - mai x

P.S you should read my new book ;) it's a ceo fake dating romance teehee kk ily bye