Chapter 7 - The Wedding He Thought He Wasn't Worthy Of
Adrian proposed six months later.
Not at a restaurant.
Not at a gala.
Not in front of cameras.
He took Nora to the bakery where her father had taught her to bake.
The building had been abandoned.
Adrian bought it.
He restored it.
He turned it into a small neighborhood bakery.
No weapons.
No guards.
No secrets.
Just flour.
Wood.
Warm lights.
And the smell of pistachios.
Nora walked inside.
“What is this?”
Adrian looked nervous.
For the first time, genuinely nervous.
“This is yours.”
She stared.
“Mine?”
“Your father loved baking here.”
“You remembered.”
“I never forgot.”
He opened a drawer.
Inside was the old recipe card.
The one containing the hidden numbers.
Nora touched it.
“Adrian…”
He dropped to one knee.
She froze.
“I don't have the right to promise you a perfect life,” he said.
“You don't.”
“I don't have the right to promise nothing bad will ever happen.”
“I know.”
“I don't even know if I'm worthy of you.”
She began crying.
“But I know I love you.”
He opened the ring box.
“Nora Bell, will you marry me?”
She laughed through tears.
“Everyone forgot my birthday.”
Adrian smiled.
“I didn't.”
She looked at the ring.
“Yes.”
He stood.
She kissed him.
The wedding was small.
Forty people.
Family.
Friends.
Former employees.
People who knew them before and after.
Claire gave the speech.
“I forgot Nora's birthday.”
Everyone laughed.
Claire continued.
“I'll never hear the end of it.”
Nora hugged her.
“You shouldn't.”
Elena cried through the entire ceremony.
Gabriel looked uncomfortable whenever anyone mentioned romance.
And Adrian smiled more that day than he had in the previous decade.
After the wedding, Nora found a small box in their bedroom.
Inside were twelve birthday cards.
One for every month he had secretly remembered something about her.
March.
The month she volunteered at the shelter.
April.
The month her father died.
June.
The month she started working at Marlowe House.
October.
Her birthday.
She stared at him.
“You kept these?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I needed somewhere to put the things I remembered.”
She touched the cards.
“You really noticed everything.”
“Yes.”
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“Because I thought you were safer not knowing me.”
May you like
She smiled.
“I know better now.”
