"But why haven't you come back when you were recovered?? Why have you faked your death??" Alex asked.

"At first I thought of faking my death only for a while until I found Sarah as Andre has also been missing along with you all. But when I moved around Italy in search of you all I experienced how nice it would be when you can live your life with complete freedom and with no one coming after you. And this life never gives you that. I know I can't change that for you all but I can at least change that for her. So I didn't want to come back. But later when I saw how smart she is, I thought she would make a great queen to this gang. I just wanted to see her rule just like I wanted to do one day. But it can never become true for me, so I wanted her to do at least"

"I think fate has been with you all along. And your wish came true" Andre spoke.

"But why did you fake your death??" Katherine asked Sarah.

"Because Alex and I thought someone is planning to kill us and I didn't want my son to be in constant danger. So I decided to stay away until the one who was behind Antonio is found. And we found a pendant with Antonio and using that Alex found a clue about you. And we thought that whoever it is behind all this wanted power and we wanted to create such situations which can bring them to the ball" Sarah explained everything they planned.

"So it's all an act??" Andre asked shocked looking at Alex and Sarah.

Alex came near the trio and draped his hand across Sarah's shoulder. They both looked at each other and smiled sheepishly. Andre was amused by the thoughts of his children.

"Padre you know what he said when I and Stephan caught them red-handed this morning??" Bash diverted the topic to decrease the tension in the room.

"What did he say??" Andre asked curious to which Bash looked at Stephan and nodded smirking.

Stephan cleared his throat and mimicked Alex while saying "Un re non può essere un re senza la forza della sua Regina"

("A King can't be a king without the strength of his Queen")

Everyone looked at the couple in Awe which made Sarah and Alex uncomfortable.

"I should have known this a long ago. Everything would have been different" Andre wiped his lone tear away.

"You have a son??" Katherine asked amused.

"Yes. I was pregnant with twins and one of them died that night" Alex fisted his hand to control his anger.

"What's his name??" Katherine asked again curiously.

"Alaric Alexander De Luca. But we all call him Ric" Alex said.

"How does he look like??" Katherine asked again.

"Why are you asking all these questions when you will be meeting him soon" Steve said with a sigh.

"What??" Katherine asked confused.

"What what?? Do you really think we will leave you here after we found you after such a long time??" Alex asked.

"But whatever I have done is-" She was cut off in the middle by Andre.

"Let's leave whatever happened in the past and start fresh. I just want to spend the rest of my life with my family. With my wife" Andre spoke honestly looking into Katherine's eyes.

In the next moment, Andre was embracing his emotional wife. After a long time of venting all her emotions, Katherine became normal. That's when she looked around to find only their family and men nowhere to be seen. Then she realized that they have been attacked.

"How did you find us??" Katherine questioned.

"Well two years ago after I gave birth to Ric, Alex wanted me to be tolerant to sedatives. So I didn't lose my consciousness but I acted as if I lost. Every one of us here is quite tolerant to sedatives but not to the quantities we were given today so they remained unconscious. So in the meanwhile, I just took off my earrings which have a tracker, and hid it on my body so that it would be traced" Sarah said to which everyone looked amused.

"You definitely took after me in this" Katherine said with pride.

Sarah looked confused to which Andre spoke to clear her confusion.

"Who do you think created that chip which can track the locations and encoded it??"

Sarah realized it was her mother who encoded with such complex code. And her mother is definitely a genius.

"What are you waiting for. Come on. Let's go. I am feeling hungry" Steve said to which everyone burst out into laughter.

"Yes. I am so excited. I still can't believe I have a grandchild" Katherine squealed like an excited small kid.

"And soon you are going to have another" Lily blurted out.

"WHAT??" Everyone looked shocked except the girls.

Lily smiled sheepishly and looked at the girls for help. They simply shrugged and raised their hands in surrender.

"Lily...Are you going to say what's happening??" Stephan asked.

Lily slowly walked towards Stephan and raised on her toes to reach his ear.

"I am pregnant" she whispered in her ear in a very low voice that is barely audible.

"You what??" Stephan asked again not understanding what she spoke.

"Are you going to say it or should I say it out loud??" Ruby spoke being impatient.

"No no. You need not say anything. I will" Lily gathered all her confidence and turned towards Stephan again.

"I am pregnant" she spoke loud enough for him to hear. Stephan stood still not reacting which made Lily tense.

Everyone is looking curious as to what she said that Stephan stood like a statue.

"Say something" Lily nudged his hand. Stephan came out of the trance and lifted Lily in the air and squealed happily.

"This is the best thing I have heard. You made me the happiest man today. Thank you!!! Thank you so much"

"Will someone tell me what's happening??" Andre's voice resonated in the room.

Stephan put Lily down and held her by her waist. He held her right hand with his right and announced the news to everyone.

"We are going to be parents soon"

Hearing this the girls screamed in joy while the rest were happy for the couple.

Later they left for the mansion where they were met with a hilarious scene. Damon who was asked to take care of Ric was drenched in water and Ric is enjoying the misery of his uncle.

Katherine was given a warm welcome which is she grateful for. Later the next day, during breakfast Nikolai announced that he and Steve wanted to get married and asked for blessings from Andre who happily agreed.

Taking this as an opportunity Bash too announced his desire to marry Rose.

Three couples wanted to have an intimate wedding only in the presence of their family and close friends. So they decided that they would be getting married after 3 days as Lily is pregnant and want to get it done as soon as possible.

Even John wanted to get married to Ruby on the same day as he realized how much he loves her when he came to know that she was kidnapped. He couldn't even imagine what he would do if something happens to her.

Katherine saw how much Sarah has changed all of them for good. Every one of them has warmth in their hearts even if it's only for their family. She is happy that her family is complete now.

3 days after the 4 weddings the annual ball has been held where they are officially announced as couples. Everyone are shocked when they came to know that Sarah is alive.

And Ric has been announced as the heir by Andre himself even after Sarah's protest.

"What makes you think he deserves to be the heir?? What if Stephan's baby is??" Sarah questioned Andre as soon as they reached home after the ball.

"What makes you think he is not??" Andre questioned her back instead of answering her question.

Their argument went on while everyone looked amused at the father and daughter duo who are not at all ready to take back their words.

This was cut off when John walked into the living hall with Ric from the garden as Ric wanted to get some flowers.

Ric ran towards his mother and gave her a rose to which he received a tight hug and kiss from his mother. He did the same with Lily, Ruby, and Rose who did the same as Sarah.

Now, Ric went to his father who sat on the head chair in the living room watching the argument which was pretty funny for him.

He knows that neither Sarah nor his Padre is going to stop. He is fine with any outcome. It doesn't matter to him if Ric or Stephan's baby is the heir. All he wanted is this family to be the same just like it is now.

He realized his family is his strength as well as his weakness. He cannot afford to lose any of them including John as he is no longer an enemy but one of them.

Ric climbed up and sat in his father's lap.

"Dada, why all call you Lord and King?? Your name,not King Nah??" Ric asked in his childish voice.

"His name is not King but he is" Andre spoke to the toddler.

"Then what am I called??" Ric asked.

"What??" Alex asked confused.

"If Dada is King then I am what??" Ric asked to no one in particular.

"Then you are Prince. If he is the KING and you are his son then you are called Prince" Andre tried to explain to Ric.

"Then why not all call me Prince??" Ric spoke but that sounded like Pince.

Everyone in the room is amused by the little boy's question.

"You want everyone to call you Prince??" Andre asked to which Ric nodded excitedly.

"Fine then!!! From today Everyone will be addressing Ric only as Prince" Andre announced with authority to which Ric gave his full-blown smile.

"Now will you tell me why can't he be the heir??" Andre asked Sarah who shook her head letting out a sigh.

"Like Father, Like Son" Sarah murmured and everyone burst out into laughter hearing it.

THE END

So guys!!! This is the happy ending I actually wrote. But this is not the end of DESTINY. Epilogue is coming up!!! I hope you guys liked this story and the way it ended.