The morning sun painted soft gold across the sky, and everything about the world felt a little brighter, just like the hearts of two people sitting in the car, holding hands like they were made for it.
Ava’s cheeks were pink like a blooming rose, and her smile wouldn’t stop tugging at the corners of her lips. She rested her head on the window for a mont, stealing glances at Nova from the corner of her eye.
Nova, on the other hand, looked fresher than spring itself. His golden hair was ssy in the cutest way, his blue eyes sparkled with a strange mix of mischief and love, and his hand was resting gently on her thigh, his fingers warm and comforting.
Ava tried to act calm, but her heart was thumping faster than usual.
"Nova," she muttered softly, trying to hide her flustered expression.
"Yes, my love?" he asked innocently, turning his face toward her with that sa silly, adorable grin.
"You’re being too romantic," she said, narrowing her eyes playfully. "It’s distracting."
"Good," he replied, leaning a little closer. "I want your heart to race every ti I’m around."
She turned her face away, hiding her blush. "You’re unbelievable."
He laughed and gently squeezed her knee. "You love it."
And she did. Oh, she really did.
They were now officially together, and it felt like everything around them had changed, even though they had known each other forever. It wasn’t the newness that made it exciting. It was the way every glance, every touch, now carried a secret aning. A quiet electricity.
Right now, they were on their way to the private countryside mansion of their boss. A weekend gathering had been planned— Sebastian, Lilith, Rose, Ethan, and so family mbers were all going to be there.
And the fact that both Ava and Nova were invited made their hearts feel even more full.
Nova turned up the music in the car a little. The wind played with Ava’s hair as she rolled the window down, and Nova smiled.
***
Arthur Carter sat on the velvet armchair, the warm sunlight spilling gently through the large countryside windows. His hair was silver now, and fine lines had settled into his once-youthful face but the charm of his younger days still lingered in his sharp jawline and kind eyes. In his youth, he was the heartthrob of the Carter na. And even now, dressed in a simple beige sweater and scarf, he looked like the kind of gentleman who once broke many hearts.
But his own had been broken for years.
"When will I et her?" he asked softly, his voice not demanding but full of quiet longing. His eyes t Alexander’s across the tea table, as the younger man sat with a perfectly still posture, legs crossed, his expression unreadable as always.
Alexander didn’t glance up.
"You will," he replied coolly. "she will co here soon."
His tone was flat, his gaze fixed on his phone, not out of boredom, but because he was busy... staring at Lilith’s photo again.
It was a candid picture. Lilith brushing her hair back lazily while sipping coffee, her face slightly annoyed by the wind. The shot was perfect. Caught at just the right mont. And it was one of dozens—dozens sent to him every day by Sir Sparkleton, the square-headed robot who had sohow earned the unofficial job of personal Lilith photographer.
Alexander’s photo album was now a collection of her.
Lilith sleeping with one hand over her face.
Lilith watching her phone, lost in thought.
Lilith biting her pen while working.
Lilith angry, Lilith laughing, Lilith walking barefoot across the floor...
Each picture held her in a way that was real, raw, and completely his.
And though he often said Sparkleton was annoying, he had never once let her throw the robot away.
Because Sparkleton sent him Lilith, and that was enough.
Across from him, Arthur was quiet now, looking down at his wrinkled hands. His heart had been heavier these past few weeks. Not just from age but from mory. He had lived long enough to see the truth unravel. And the guilt clawed at him every night.
He had let Bria rule his life. Turn his love into dust. Turn his ho into a battlefield. He hadn’t protected Stella.
And now it was too late.
He wished—oh, how he wished that ti would bend. That he could go back, reach for Stella’s hand, pull her away from the car that night... Maybe hold her before she was burned. Maybe stop the knife.
His eyes watered faintly with the thought.
When he discovered Stella had been pregnant during the accident, the truth shattered him. The love of his life and the child he’d never hold - both torn away like smoke through his fingers.
If only he could die quietly, he thought, maybe he’d find her again.
Because even after all this ti, after the empire, after the silence, after the scars he only ever belonged to her.
He lifted his teacup slowly and whispered in his heart:
’Stella... wait for just a little longer.’
Arthur looked up again, trying to gently stir the silence between them. He wanted to understand this grandson of his—this cold, unreadable man who seed to feel nothing... except when it ca to her.
"And..." Arthur began, his voice quiet but curious, "are you planning to marry her?"
For a mont, the room went still.
Alexander didn’t answer right away. His fingers froze mid-scroll on his phone screen, where Lilith’s face stared back at him. He slowly lowered the device onto his lap, eyes still fixed sowhere far away....sowhere only he could see.
And then... he nodded.
It was a small movent, barely there. But the look in his eyes–dark, intense, burning with emotions.
He wasn’t just planning to marry her.
He had already decided.
The re thought of it made his chest tighten in a strange way. Not like fear. More like... longing. Sharp and all-consuming.
Marry her?
Yes.
He wanted her na on everything he owned. He wanted her fingers to wear the ring he would personally design. He wanted her to wake up next to him, every morning, wearing nothing but his shirt. He wanted her to carry his child. He wanted to hold her waist at parties while everyone watched and whispered, "That’s Lilith Carter."
But more than that...
He just wanted to be hers.
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