Chapter 6 - The Light After the Storm
With Marcus in federal custody, a massive weight lifted from our lives. The media had a field day, but the narrative was perfect: a CEO uncovering corruption to protect his secretly reunited family.
But I only cared about the woman sitting across from me on the sunlit terrace, laughing as our son Leo tried to eat a strawberry.
It was mid-November. The air was crisp, but the terrace heaters kept the space warm. Lily was asleep on my chest in a baby carrier. Claire looked radiant, glowing with a renewed sense of safety.
“You know,” Claire said, sipping her coffee, “you’ve been working from home for a month. Doesn't Carter Holdings need its CEO?”
I adjusted Lily’s blanket. “My real job is right here.”
Claire reached across the table and took my hand. Her thumb traced my knuckles. “When we first met… did you ever think we’d end up here? With all this dramatic life?”
I chuckled. “I just wanted to be with you, Claire. Whether in a penthouse or a cardboard box.”
She looked out over the sprawling green lawn. “I lost myself, Ethan. But being here with you, watching you be a father… I remember the girl who wanted to open a bookstore. I remember the wife who loved her husband more than life itself.”
She looked back at me, her eyes shining. “I’m ready, Ethan.”
“Ready for what?”
“Ready to be Claire Carter again. Officially.”
I stood up, carefully handing a sleeping Lily to my mother, who had just stepped onto the terrace. Margaret winked at me and ushered the babies inside.
I walked over to Claire, got down on one knee right there on the stone terrace, and took her hand in both of mine.
“Claire,” I said, my voice thick with emotion. “We went through hell and back. But through it all, my soul never let go of yours. Will you marry me? Again. For real this time. For the rest of our lives.”
May you like
Tears spilled freely down her cheeks as she nodded frantically. “Yes. A thousand times, yes.”
I caught her in a sweeping embrace, spinning her around as she laughed—that loud, joyful, uninhibited laugh I had missed so desperately.
