chapter 22.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Somewhere Safe, Somewhere Ours

Ava

She didn't realize how tense she'd been—until the quiet wrapped around her like a blanket.

No buzzing phones.

No glass towers.

No wolves in pearls.

Just birdsong. And Liam's laugh echoing through trees.

The private cabin was nestled in a wooded retreat just outside the city. Hidden. Peaceful. Untouched by the press or the boardroom.

Damien had planned everything.

No agenda. No negotiations.

Just time.

And that was the greatest gift of all.

---

Liam was running barefoot in the grass, chasing a butterfly like it owed him a secret.

Ava sat on the porch, her toes in the sun, a cup of tea in her hand, watching as Damien joined Liam in the chase—shirt sleeves rolled, tie forgotten, eyes lit with something she hadn't seen in years.

Joy.

Not the sharp triumph of a business win.

But real, childlike, soul-deep joy.

She didn't know this version of him.

But she wanted to.

---

Later, after dinner—spaghetti eaten too fast and laughter shared too easily—Liam fell asleep with chocolate on his face and a toy spaceship still clutched in one hand.

Ava stepped out onto the porch again, arms folded against the chill.

Damien joined her, a blanket draped around her shoulders before she even asked.

"You planned all this?" she whispered.

"I wanted to give you both something I couldn't before," he said. "Room to breathe."

They stood in silence, the stars blinking above them, the forest humming in the dark.

"You're different now," she said.

Damien didn't deny it. "You made me want to be."

Ava looked at him then. Really looked.

The man she married was powerful. Distant. Brilliant.

But the man beside her now?

He was becoming whole.

And maybe… so was she.

---

They didn't kiss.

Not yet.

But when Damien reached for her hand—

She didn't pull away.

And when he whispered, "Let's build something that lasts this time," she nodded.

Because for the first time in a long time…

She believed him.