A strange smile remained on her face throughout the day.
She repeatedly asked Silas to leave the house early.
Although he had no idea what she was planning, he obeyed.
After all, arguing with Ivy rarely produced favorable results.
The entire day passed uneventfully.
Then night arrived. Suddenly, Ashley contacted him and requested that he return to the apartnt.
Confused, Silas followed the instructions. The mont he opened the door, however, he froze.
The entire room had been transford. Beautiful flowers decorated every corner. The sweet fragrance of roses filled the air.
Petals covered the floor like a colorful carpet. The atmosphere felt romantic, almost dreamlike.
Standing at the entrance, Silas could only blink in surprise as his heart began beating faster.
’Is there so special occasion today?’
He searched his mory but could not recall anything important.
The harder he thought, the deeper his frown beca. Just then, Ivy walked out from another room.
She was wearing a stunning magenta-red dress that hugged her figure perfectly.
For a mont, Silas felt as though his mind had completely gone blank.
Everything around him seed to disappear. Ivy chuckled softly before smiling brightly.
"Happy Birthday to you..."
As she began singing, more people suddenly erged from behind the decorations.
One after another, they stepped forward and wished Silas a happy birthday.
Silas, however, barely heard them. His gaze remained fixed on Ivy. Everyone else seed to fade into the background.
For the first ti, he felt a stinging sensation behind his eyes.
His vision beca blurry. mories surfaced one after another. Every birthday he had experienced. Every lonely wish he had made.
Every year, there had only been one thing he truly wanted. He wanted Ivy to celebrate his birthday with Ivy.
Back then, it had felt like an impossible fantasy. A dream that could never beco reality. Then Ivy had returned to his life.
Slowly, impossibly, that dream had co true. Unable to stop himself, Silas walked toward her and wrapped his arms around her.
Ivy looked surprised for a mont. Then a warm smile appeared on her face as she returned the embrace.
Soon, the cake-cutting ceremony began. Laughter filled the apartnt. Afterward ca the gift-giving session.
Ivy stepped forward and handed Silas a carefully wrapped box.
Naturally, Silas wanted to open it imdiately. However, Ivy quickly stopped him.
A faint blush appeared on her cheeks. "Later."
Seeing his confused expression, she added softly, "Open it after everyone leaves."
Silas obediently nodded. One by one, everyone else presented their gifts.
Helena and Victoria gifted him five percent of the antidote’s patent rights.
Dante handed over access to a shared ergency bank account.
"If your mother and I ever decide to abandon our responsibilities and disappear sowhere, you’ll be responsible for raising Talia and Asher."
The mont those words left Dante’s mouth, Silas’s face darkened. "You’re basically asking to reject your gift."
Everyone burst into laughter. Talia imdiately raised her hand. "I already have a somone, so there won’t be any babysitting involved."
anwhile, Asher pointed at himself. "I still need babysitting."
Silas laughed.
"Sure. Go spend a few weeks running around the military barracks. After that, you probably won’t need a babysitter anymore."
The room erupted with even louder laughter. Eventually, the celebration ca to an end.
One by one, everyone left and the apartnt gradually beca quiet.
Soon, only Ivy and Silas remained. Silas imdiately looked toward the mysterious gift.
His curiosity had been growing all evening. "Can I open it now?"
Ivy nodded. A nervous smile appeared on her face.
Silas carefully opened the box. Inside was a small projection device.
Confused, he activated it. Monts later, a video appeared. The mont the images began playing, Silas froze.
The video showed him and Ivy together. Only this version of them was different.
They were in high school, holding hands, laughing together, walking through hallways, and sharing ordinary monts.
The scenes continued changing. Childhood mories. Teenage years. College days. Adulthood.
Monts that had never happened. Yet monts he had secretly wished for countless tis.
It felt like watching an alternate life. A beautiful life. A life where he and Ivy had always been together.
As the video continued playing, tears slowly ford in his eyes.
Deep inside his heart, there had always been a small wish. A wish that they could have fallen in love much earlier.
Now, seeing that dream brought to life, even if only through a video, overwheld him.
Before he realized it, tears were running down his face. Ivy gently wrapped her arms around him from behind.
Her warmth imdiately comforted him. "Thank you, Silas."
Her voice was soft. "For everything you’ve done. For everything you’ve endured. For all the years you’ve waited."
Silas remained silent. His throat felt too tight to speak. Ivy slowly turned him toward her.
A warm smile appeared on her face. "Now it’s our turn to take a step forward."
Eight months. Eight months of patient touches, of holding back, of him holding her while she cried through nightmares.
Eight months of him never once pressuring her, never once making her feel broken.
"Ivy," Silas whispered. "We don’t have to..."
"I want to." Her pink hair cascaded over her shoulders as the dress pooled at her feet, leaving her in nothing but delicate white lace.
Her pink eyes, usually so guarded. "I’m ready, hubby."
The word sent a shiver through him.
Silas had dread of this mont since their wedding day, had replayed it in his mind a thousand tis, but nothing compared to the reality of her standing before him, trust and vulnerability etched across her features.
His blue eyes darkened with restrained desire as he crossed the room, his movents deliberately slow, giving her every opportunity to stop him.
"You’re so beautiful," he murmured. "My beautiful wifey."
The kiss started soft, barely a brush of lips, but Ivy pressed closer, her hands finding the lapels of his robe and pulling him against her.
She wanted this. Needed it. Needed to replace every ghost that haunted her with his touch, his warmth, his love.
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