Chapter 39: The Vow Beneath the Stars

The aftermath came in waves.

Arrests. Cleanups. Disclosures.

Adrian's death was ruled as self-defense. The footage backed it. The board voted unanimously to reinstate James as CEO, and Miles was offered a formal position as Head of Global Security.

But none of that mattered to me.

Because in the quiet that followed the chaos, James and I finally had something we hadn't tasted in months:

> Peace.

---

It was a crisp, clear night when he brought me to the rooftop again.

Not the penthouse this time.

The manor.

The place where it all began — where I once stood as the invisible adopted girl who hid behind stairwells, books, and piano notes.

Now, I stood beside him.

Not hidden.

But chosen.

---

The stars glimmered above us like they were waiting.

James reached into his coat and pulled out a small black box.

I blinked. "Again?"

He smiled. "This time, it's not a question."

He opened the box.

Inside was the same sapphire ring he once gave me in the garden.

Only now, it was engraved.

> Yours, always. No more secrets.

He slid it onto my finger.

And then, he knelt.

Not on one knee.

But both.

And I gasped as he looked up at me — a man stripped of power, pride, and pain — and finally free.

"Not because I have to," he said. "But because I want to. Because after everything we've lost… you're the one thing I refuse to ever lose again."

I dropped to my knees with him, our foreheads touching.

"I never wanted the empire," I whispered. "I just wanted you."

His hands cupped my face.

"And now," he said, "you have both."

---

We didn't sign papers that night.

We didn't throw confetti or call the press.

Instead, we lit a candle.

Just one.

Set it beside the rose bush in the garden we rebuilt together.

We made our vow in whispers, in laughter, in silence — beneath the stars that had watched us both rise, fall, break, and rebuild.

---

Later, he held me in bed, his arms curled tightly around me.

"Are you scared it's too quiet?" he asked.

"No," I said. "Because I finally believe the quiet is real."

He kissed my shoulder.

And then he said something he'd never said before.

Three words.

Not I love you.

> "You saved me."