The crowd drifted toward the banquet hall, laughter fading into the hum of strings and waves. Lights from the chandeliers bled out through the glass walls, spilling gold over the gardens.
Ezra stayed behind. He needed air, needed to understand what had just happened. The salt wind carried the scent of roses and ocean.
He found Mellody standing near the edge of the terrace, the sea just beyond the railing. Her ivory dress moved with the breeze, the hem catching faint droplets of salt. She looked impossibly composed, as if she'd been carved from still water.
He stopped a few steps away."…So this is real?"
She turned, that calm half-smile returning. "You're still doubting it?"
"I'm doubting everything today," he said. "Woke up alone, got a mysterious note, now I'm apparently engaged to the CEO of the world's biggest tech company. So yeah, I'm a little behind on the script."
Her laugh was soft—unexpected. "You talk like someone who doesn't trust reality."
"Reality and I have a complicated relationship."
They stood in silence for a moment, the sound of waves filling the space between them. The wind lifted her hair; he caught the faint scent of rain and jasmine.
She turned fully toward him, gaze level. "You look uncomfortable, Ezra."
"Wouldn't you be? Everyone's acting like this is some fairy-tale reveal and I'm… me."
"You're overthinking."
"That's my main talent."
Mellody studied him for a heartbeat longer, then said, simply, "You should dress properly."
He blinked. "What?"
"Dress up," she said, eyes never leaving his. "A proper suit. The ceremony's tonight. Take my hand when they call us."
He laughed, half-nervous, half-incredulous. "You're serious?"
"Completely."
The ocean roared quietly behind her. She reached out, fingers brushing his sleeve—not intimate, but deliberate. "We're both here now. Whatever this is, it's already moving. Don't run from it."
He felt the warmth of her touch through the fabric, faint and steady.
"Alright," he said finally. "But if this turns out to be another hallucination, I'm blaming the pills."
"Then at least hallucinate beautifully," she replied, the ghost of a smile crossing her lips.
Somewhere inside the hotel, music swelled again. Voices called.
Mellody extended her hand fully now, pale against the dusk. "Come, Ezra. Let's not keep them waiting."
He hesitated only a moment before nodding.
"Fine," he said quietly. "Let's get married, then."
He took her hand.
The storm over the sea flickered with distant lightning, brief and silent, as if the sky itself was holding its breath.
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