But first.
An apology.
To both Magnus Davion, and to Penny Wright, the staff at Gossip Central and the greater New York Daily Journal organization would like to apologize to you.
What you were subjected to and the reasons you were subjected to it were inexcusable and vile. No one should ever be targeted by the press like you've been. It was a witch hunt at the end of the day and it was orchestrated from within this august institution.
It's safe to say that in this instance, both Ms. Wright and Mr. Davion were able to fight back. Together, they showed that they were stronger than the world that tried to tear them apart.
And they prevailed over a corrupt Mayor and an Editor-In-Chief who lost her principles a long time ago.
For that, we thank you.
Without your ability to fight back on this, the Mayor would not have resigned 24 hours after your joint press conference.
Without your courage, the Editor-In-Chief wouldn't have been removed from her role by the CEO of the New York Daily Journal. The District Attorney is currently investigating her and her ex-mayor accomplice. That's the last thing that my spies have told me.
There's always been a bias in the press. We try to control it, but in this instance, we did not. We fed it and let it run free.
And a young couple who were in love paid the price for too long.
Others may not have lasted as long as you did. Many others wouldn't have had the courage to stand up and declare that they had done nothing wrong. For them, we thank you as well.
Going forward, this paper will be conducting a thorough review of everything that is printed in these pages to ensure that something like this never, ever, happens again.
While we can only apologize as many times as needed publicly, we also acknowledge that we can never repay and repair the damage that has been caused to Magnus Davion and Penny Wright.
It's small compensation, but for whatever it's worth, we would like to note to readers that the Equinox Towers project will stay with Davion Development going forward.
And future city contracts will probably be easier.
Indeed, New Yorkers, we here at Gossip Central want to apologize to each and every single one of our readers for leading this witch hunt. It was beneath us and those that came on board with Rhoda Wright have left en masse.
The inmates no longer control the asylum.
The only thing we can wish upon this couple as they embark on their journey of love is that they never again find themselves in the papers.
&nbs
p; May their life be quiet and peaceful, and may they never have to work with a mob of journalists pushing down the door to their privacy.
May they enjoy happiness and may you, my dear denizens of the city, enjoy yours.
Till next time, keep your ears open, New York. We're listening.
Penny
Epilogue
Felicità!
That’s happiness in Italian, and it pretty much describes the way I’ve been feeling for the past few months. It’s hard to believe, but it has been almost an year after everything that happened back in New York. Which is almost as saying it was centuries ago. Time really flies when you’re having fun.
Two months after Laurel’s impeachment, Magnus got down on one knee and slipped the biggest diamond ring I had ever seen in my finger. I don’t need to tell you how much I cried, do I? The most perfect man I had ever met, asking me to marry him? Yeah, I cried so much I thought I was going to dehydrate. And, with that, he also told me we’d be taking a vacation.
A year-long vacation.
That same night we grabbed his Learjet and, the following day, we touched down on the tarmac at Florence Airport, Italy. I had never been to Europe before, but Italy was my destination of choice when Magnus asked me where I wanted to go. I don’t know, there’s something about Italy that just adds to happy endings, don’t you think?