Chapter 13 - Under the StarsLater that evening, after the music had quieted down and the guests had slowly drifted home, Ethan and I sat on a wooden bench overlooking the illuminated courtyard of the community complex. The fairy lights flickered softly in the gentle evening breeze, casting a golden glow over the brick pathways and blooming flowerbeds.
Ethan pulled a small velvet box from his jacket pocket and set it quietly on the wooden slats between us.
I glanced at the box, my breath catching in my throat. I didn't need to open it to know what was inside.
"Ethan..." I murmured, looking up at him.
He didn't say a word at first. He just reached out, taking my hand in his, his thumb gently stroking my knuckles. His brown eyes were filled with a profound, unwavering tenderness that made my heart race just as fast as it had on the day of our very first real date.
"Claire," Ethan began, his voice deep and quiet. "We've built a foundation, we've healed a family, and we've proven that we can weather any storm together. But every great story deserves a proper beginning—one that doesn't start in a ruined ballroom with a shattered champagne glass."
He popped open the velvet box. Inside rested a ring—not an ostentatious, diamond-encrusted rock meant to impress high-society snobs, but a delicate platinum band inlaid with a single, brilliant sapphire that caught the starlight.
"Will you marry me, Claire? For real this time? No games, no pretense, just you and me?"
A tear slipped down my cheek, but I was smiling so hard my face ached.
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"Yes," I whispered, throwing my arms around his neck and pulling him into a tight, desperate embrace. "Yes, a million times yes."
As Ethan slipped the sapphire ring onto my finger, I looked up at the sparkling night sky above us. The past was behind us, the present was beautiful, and our future was entirely our own to write.
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