Illusions Complete Series (97 page)

“No, mom. I won’t do it. I have friends in my class, and they won’t talk to me if I skip ahead. Anyhow, I don’t really want to be around older kids. They’re bigger than me and they already have their cliques. So, if you really want me to be a social pariah, go ahead and skip me ahead. But if you want me to be a happy, well-adjusted child, then I suggest that you leave me exactly where I am.”

I was the lawyer, yet she was the skilled debater.

I just sighed. “But, Dalilah, aren’t you a little bored? Most of those kids are just learning to read, and you’re already on the classics.”

Dalilah just shrugged. “Yeah, it’s boring. But my gifted and talented courses are challenging enough. There are other kids in there who are almost at my level. And, if you think about it, school doesn’t really mean that much to me, academically-wise. It’s most important for my social well-being, and, socially, I’m doing very well. So, please, mom, please leave me where I am.”

So, Dalilah stayed right where she was – she was six years old and still in the first grade. She was exactly where she wanted to be, and I had a feeling that she would be calling the shots on her life for the rest of our lives.

And Nick – well, that was another story for another day. He finally fell out of love with me, thank god, and he became our greatest asset and friend. And he finally found somebody to love. Somebody real who loved him for him, and not for his pocketbook. He was happier than I had ever seen him. His man-whore ways were gone. The woman was so not like his usual bimbos, and she gave him a hard time when he first tried to pursue her. But he won out in the end, and won her heart.

Even Alexis was doing well. She was able to stay on her meds and was stable ever since her stay in the mental hospital more than five years ago. She also was able to finally give up the illegal drugs that had haunted her life. Ryan helped her overcome all of her demons, and gave her money to live on for a few years. But she was doing so much better that she was able to find another law job, albeit at a much smaller salary than before, so she no longer had to rely upon Ryan. She had to learn how to live like a normal person, which meant that her standards were lowered quite a bit. Her new job had a wonderful perk, however – she met somebody there who she promptly fell in love with, and they started living happily together within a few months of meeting.

That person was a woman, which surprised Alexis as much as it did everybody else.

Alexis and her girlfriend, Anna, even made plans to be married. Not legally, of course. Missouri was still backwards on the gay marriage thing, although a Supreme Court case that was coming up would probably change that. But, even if gay marriage wasn’t legalized in Missouri, Alexis and Anna would still be having a commitment ceremony.

So, there was an invitation that came in the mail announcing this ceremony. I was excited to meet Anna, as was Ryan. We were even more excited to find out that Alexis and Anna were in the process of adopting a child from Russia. Alexis had found out what all of us had – that love was the only thing in life that mattered. Once she figured that out, she was able to find peace and no longer had the need to overspend.

As for Natalie – she and Nate were on their third child. Natalie had long since quit her job at Goldman Sachs to become a full-time mom. We went to visit them at least twice a year, in their new house in Connecticut, and there no longer was the undercurrent of tension. Natalie loved Nate and now merely saw Ryan as a really good friend. We were actually able to laugh about all that happened before with Natalie and the pregnancy issue. I never thought that was possible, but it was.

All in all, we were happy. Really, really happy. Yes, we were literally billionaires. Just one of our Rembrandt paintings that was inherited from Benjamin would give us enough money to live on for about 1,000 lifetimes. But that didn’t matter. We didn’t live like billionaires. We lived well, but we didn’t sit around and just try to amass more money. We made a difference in the lives of these animals, and we made a difference in the lives of each other and our friends.

This was our story. Nothing was ever perfect in life, but, all in all, it came damned close.

THE END

This is the third book in the
Illusions
trilogy.
Deeper Illusions
can be found at
goo.gl/qnDGPg
.
Beautiful Illusions
can be found at
goo.gl/LUi7Eq
.

Extra Extra!

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This series will shortly be followed by a brand-new spinoff series, which will be a New Adult series featuring a grown-up Dalilah, followed by another series featuring everybody’s favorite man whore, Nick O’Hara. These are fascinating secondary characters to me who deserve their own stories, don’t ya think?

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Beautiful Illusions
.
Deeper Illusions
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Beautiful Illusions
can be found at
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