Rejected Proposal, Found Forever

ler had last stood in a room like this, surrounded by the same faces. They smiled at him now, their eyes filled with a welcom

the mud he' d bee

dying in the golden light. He was a guest of honor tonight, a special in

ess that shimmered like a memory. She looked the same, her beauty as sharp and d

cleared around them as

arrying just enough to reach the eager

r an answer. She go

asp went throu

nd with a diamond held in a delicate, gravity-defying tensegrity setting. It was a design he recognized. A concept he

. "I was a fool to let you go. I' ve missed you every single day fo

red the boy who had loved Chloe Hayes with a desperate, all-consuming passion. They remember

engagement party. The night she had stood on a stage just like this one, her face streaked with tears, and accused him of being a fraud. She had pointed at

It was just a fact, a piece of d

o his side, her hand landing on his a

w years. She never forgot you, even after your mistakes. She worked so hard to suppress those rumors a

teenage spat, a misunderstanding. She conveniently forgot that her family had

im, a silent, beautiful statue of devotion. The crowd

calculation in her eyes, the desperate need to reclaim the prize she

voice was polite, almost gentle, b

aid, his words clear and pr

through the room. Whispe

did h

said

her. He spelled her

imes Square, lighting up the night with the words: 'Chloe Hayes Lo

n' t angry. He wasn' t hurt. He felt nothing at all for the

d on," he s

cade. "Moved on? Ethan, don' t be ridiculous. Thi

ly. "It was you and me. It i

ed was absolute, heavy, and complete. If his

" Chloe stammered

an said, his voice ste

ligent eyes and a smile that reached them stood there, holding the hand

d out, letting go of her mother

ghter. He swept her up into his arms, buryi

arah. The love that passed between them was quiet, real, and ne

e floor, the ring box still in her hand, looking at

red, shaking her head in disbelief.

This is a joke, right? A way to punish me? I deserve it, I do

d at Chloe, at the woman who had nearly d

Chloe," he said, his voice

positioned herself slightly in front of Ethan and Lily, a shiel

led out a folded document, flicking it open. "And this is our marriage certificate. We we

r was a final, undeniable

and Lily in his arms, he walked away from the gasping crowd, from the ghosts of hi

he ballroom. In a fit of screaming, incoherent rage, she threw the custom-made ring against a wall. Then, she started confes

rrested before t

standing, her family' s support, and any semblance of the

e world, and he went home every night to a wife and daughter who loved him. He had found genui