Lucien remained where he was. He did not speak. He did not try to persuade her. He simply looked into Seraphina's eyes and waited. The ring rested quietly inside the open velvet box. The breeze carried ripples across the lake, but neither of them noticed. For them, the world had narrowed to this one moment.
Seraphina took a slow breath, then another. She looked at the man in front of her. She remembered the first day they had signed the contract. She remembered sitting across from him in a conference room, believing she was agreeing to a business arrangement that would protect her from a future she feared. She had entered that marriage carrying grief, distrust, and exhaustion. She had expected distance. She had expected politeness. She had expected obligation. She had never expected love.
Tears slipped down her cheeks again. Lucien instinctively reached for a handkerchief before stopping himself, and he smiled softly.
"I almost forgot." He said.
