Chapter 148
Is this what it feels like to be happy? To feel so wholly content, untouchable, like absolutely nothing can go wrong?
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I blink furiously, trying to keep the tears brimming in my eyes at bay.
Nathan waits patiently, smiling up at me.
“I don’t know what to say,” I whisper.
He chuckles. “Yes‘ is a good option.”
I shift off the bed, falling to my knees in front of him. “Yes,” I whisper, “Of course, yes.”
“You mean that?” His voice wobbles.
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I nod, no longer bothering to hold back my flood of emotions. Tears flow down my cheeks uninhibited, and Nathan cups my face, gently wiping them away.
“You know I hate it when you cry,” he murmurs, his voice thick with emotion.
I sniff. “Not even happy tears?”
He leans forward and kisses my cheek, his tongue flicking out to lick away the salt. When he pulls back, his own eyes are brimming, and I let out a watery laugh.
“See? It’s not so easy, is it?”
He laughs, taking my hand in his again.
My breath catches as he slips the diamond ring on my finger. I stare at it, stunned.
When my parents died, I had to sell almost everything we owned to be able to make ends meet. So I’m not materialistic and I don’t get attached to things–but holy shit.
It’s delicate, like something out of a dream–way too beautiful to be mine. The round–cut diamond in the middle sparkles ethereally. Smaller diamonds accentuate the platinum band like twinkling fireflies, shimmering different colors as I move my hand.
I’m afraid to blink–like if I do, it’ll vanish.
“How–when…?” I look up at Nathan in question.
“I bought it the night after my date with Valerie.”
My eyes widen. “What?”
He nods, taking my hand in his. He sits, crosses his legs, and pulls me into his lap. “She wanted to order the Marrow Martini so she could
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17:24 Mon, Oct 13 N
Chapter 148
get the necklace, but I knew that the only girl I wanted to get jewelry for was you. And I knew the first one ever had to mean something.”
My chest inflates with affection. “Oh, Nathan” I run a hand reverently down his cheek. The ring on my finger catches the light, and my heart skips a beat.
I’m engaged. To Nathan Freaking Ashford.
He catches my hand in his, pressing it against his heart. “I love you, April. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
I choke back a sob as he leans forward and kisses me. It’s tendet, soft, filled with a million promises.
1 cup the back of his neck, pulling him closet, needing him closer.
His arms wrap around my waist, holding me like the precious thing he says I am. His lips linger against mine–slow, reverent, as if he’s committing this moment to memory.
I slide my hands into his hair, letting the silky strands slip through my fingers. He shudders against me, and it thrills me, the evident way he needs me, too.
His hands roam up my back, warm and steady, then settle at the curve of my neck, his thumb gently brushing my jaw.
The kiss deepens, Nathan’s lips moving with purpose, but still unhurried, and I don’t mind–we have forever to do this.
Everything–the awful meeting with Samuel and Marisol, the tension between me and my friends, the logistics of running away–falls
away.
The only thing that matters is Nathan, my fiancé. I feel the tremble of his breath, the beat of his heart under my palm, and the soft brush of his nose against mine as he pulls back just enough to whisper, “You have no idea how much I love you.”
I smile through the tears slipping down my cheeks. “I bet it’s not as much as I love you.”
He kisses those tears away, one by one, his smile warm against my skin. “I’ll take that bet.”
He’ll lose–because I love him more than is possibly quantifiable, and I can’t believe I get to spend the rest of my life with him.
I don’t leave Nathan’s room for the rest of the day, and other than the brief moment when he slips out to grab lunch, we don’t leave each
other’s side.
We curl up together on his bed, limbs tangled, wrapped in a cocoon of warmth and quiet conversation. The world outside fades away. There’s only the soft murmur of our voices and the occasional brush of his fingers against mine.
We talk about everything and nothing–favorite childhood memories, things we’ve never said aloud before, the future that suddenly feels
so real now.
I lie on his chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart–my favorite sound in the world.
He plays with my hair absentmindedly, and I trace slow, idle shapes along his arm. We share lazy kisses between long silences, the kind that don’t need filling.
We drift in and out of a dreamy half–sleep, never letting go of each other.
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Chapter 148
And all day long, that ring on my finger glints whenever the light hits it, reminding me over and over: this is real. He’s mine. I’m his.
“I don’t want to go,” I whisper against Nathan’s lips.
“I know, baby,” he says, gently buttoning up my shirt. “But I bet at least your maids have been looking for you.”
I shrug. “I don’t care. None of it matters anyway, right?”
He cups my face. “Right. But we have to keep a low profile till we leave.”
I look up at him. “When will that be?”
He pecks my lips. “Soon. I’ll get everything in order and we’ll go.”
A thorn of worry pokes at the bubble of happiness. “We’re really doing this, huh?”
“Having second thoughts?”
I shake my head vehemently.
“Good,” Nathan exhales, resting his forehead against mine. “Because I can’t live without you.”
“Me too,” I sigh.
I raise my hand and stare wistfully at my engagement ring (Holy shit it’s such a trip to even call it that)
“I should take this off, right?”
Nathan nods. “Probably for the best.” He strokes his nose against mine. “Just for now.”
I slip it off my finger, instantly missing it.
“Here,” I sigh, handing it to him.
Nathan shakes his head, curling my fingers around it. “That’s yours–forever.”
“Forever,” I repeat.
He kisses me hard, like he’s sealing the deal.
“Forever.”
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17:25 Mon, Oct 13 N
Winning the Heir Who Bullied Me
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland’s breathtaking cold.
