Chapter 9 - The Proposal Nobody Saw Coming
One year after Elena had been found beneath the oak tree, the first anniversary of that morning arrived.
The rain returned.
But this time it was spring rain.
Warm.
Gentle.
Elena stood beneath the same tree outside the estate.
She looked at the exact patch of ground where she had once curled into herself and waited for the cold to take her.
Valentine approached.
"You shouldn't be out here alone."
She smiled.
"I'm not."
He stood beside her.
"Do you remember?"
"Everything."
"The lunchbox?"
She laughed.
"I threw it away."
"I know."
"The tea?"
"What tea?"
"The terrible tea Margaret gave me."
Valentine smiled.
"I remember."
Elena looked toward the house.
"I never thought I'd stay here."
"I never thought I'd ask you to."
"You didn't."
"No."
"You just kept finding reasons for me to."
He looked at her.
"What reasons?"
"Books."
"I needed someone to manage the library."
"Coffee."
"I needed someone to tell me it was terrible."
"Flowers."
"I don't know anything about flowers."
"You killed three plants."
"Four."
She laughed.
Then her expression softened.
"Valentine."
"Yes?"
"Do you ever wish you had never opened that gate?"
He thought about it.
"No."
"Not even once?"
"No."
"Why?"
"Because if I hadn't, you might still believe you deserved what happened to you."
Elena looked down.
"I never deserved it."
"I know."
He took her hand.
That night, he invited her to dinner.
The dining room was decorated with candles.
Elena frowned.
"What's all this?"
"Nothing."
"You're a terrible liar."
"I know."
She sat.
Dinner was served.
Halfway through the meal, she noticed something strange.
The room was empty.
No staff.
No security.
No Luca.
No Michael.
No one.
"Where is everyone?"
Valentine stood.
"Busy."
Elena narrowed her eyes.
"Valentine."
He smiled.
He walked toward her.
Then he knelt.
Her hand flew to her mouth.
"No."
He laughed softly.
"I haven't even asked yet."
She began crying before he spoke.
"Elena Bell, the first thing I ever saw was a woman trying to disappear."
He paused.
"I've spent the past year watching that woman become someone who no longer hides from anything."
Elena cried harder.
"I don't need you to save me. I don't need you to protect me from the world. I don't need you to promise me that nothing bad will ever happen."
He opened the ring box.
"I only want to know whether you'll face whatever happens next with me."
She could barely speak.
"Yes."
He smiled.
"That's not the whole question."
She laughed through her tears.
"Yes, Valentine."
"Will you marry me?"
"Yes."
He stood.
She threw her arms around him.
He held her tightly.
Outside, fireworks suddenly erupted over the bay.
Elena pulled back.
"You planned this?"
"Maybe."
"You're ridiculous."
"I've been told."
She kissed him.
That same night, they received a message from Michael.
A photograph.
It showed Isabella Moretti smiling years earlier, holding Elena as a child.
On the back was a handwritten line.
SHE KNEW YOU WOULD FIND EACH OTHER.
Elena stared at the words.
"She knew?"
Valentine nodded.
"My mother met you once."
"When?"
"The day you were six."
Elena remembered nothing.
Valentine touched the photograph.
"You were the little girl in the park."
Elena stared.
The photograph finally made sense.
Her entire life had been connected to the Moretti family long before she understood why.
Her mother and Isabella had been friends.
Michael had been Isabella's investigator.
Elena had been under her protection without knowing it.
What Elena thought had been a random job seven years later had not been random.
Margaret had hired her because she feared what would happen if Celeste found her first.
The pieces finally fit.
The woman under the oak tree had not wandered into Valentine's world by accident.
May you like
She had been running toward the only place her father's hidden plans had left for her.
And Valentine had opened the gate.
