Rain fell gently over London, soft and rhythmic — like the sky was finally learning to breathe again.
The city felt quieter.
Not because the headlines had calmed, but because for the first time in months, I didn't wake up to sirens or secrets.
I woke up in James's arms.
His chest rose and fell steadily, one arm draped across my waist, his face still buried against the curve of my neck like he never wanted to let go.
And maybe he didn't.
Maybe, for the first time, he was learning how to stay.
---
He left a note on my pillow after I showered:
> Meet me where it all began. Wear something warm. No questions.
I smiled to myself.
James Windsor, the world's most guarded billionaire, was many things — mysterious, brilliant, intense. But romantic?
That was new.
And yet, something about the note made my heart flutter in a way no roses ever could.
I threw on a soft grey coat, brushed through my hair, and followed the location he pinned on my phone.
It led me to the Windsor Estate Gardens.
---
The place had once terrified me.
The home of power. The fortress of lies.
But tonight, it was something else.
Hundreds of small lanterns lit the path through the hedges — not just light, but warmth.
The old gazebo — once cold and forgotten — was transformed.
White fairy lights wrapped around the pillars.
Blankets covered the bench seats.
And at the center…
James stood, in a black coat and gloves, holding a small velvet box in his hand.
I stopped walking.
My breath caught.
He turned slowly, those familiar stormy eyes locking onto mine — but there was something different now.
No tension.
No shadows.
Just a man who had finally stopped running.
"I thought I lost you," he said quietly, stepping forward.
"You didn't," I whispered.
"I came close," he said. "Too close."
He took my hand and placed it over his heart.
"This beats because you reminded me how."
I swallowed hard.
He dropped to one knee.
My heart stopped.
"Amelia Moore," he said, voice steady but full of emotion. "You've fought wars I'll never understand. Faced pain I couldn't shield you from. But through it all, you never let the darkness win."
He opened the box.
Inside was a simple ring — gold, elegant, with a small sapphire at its center.
Blue — like my favorite dress.
Like the sky after the storm.
"I don't want to possess you," he said. "I want to build with you. Laugh with you. Grow with you. Love you — every broken, brilliant, beautiful piece of you."
Tears blurred my vision.
"So I'm asking… after everything we've survived… will you marry me?"
---
For a moment, all I could do was blink back the tears.
The war, the pain, the rumors, the betrayals — none of it mattered anymore.
Not here.
Not with him.
Not now.
"Yes," I whispered, my voice shaking. "Yes, James. I'll marry you."
He stood and slid the ring onto my finger — and when he kissed me, I felt everything I had ever searched for finally settle into place.
---
Later, we sat beneath the stars, wrapped in blankets, no words left to say.
Because a promise made under a quiet sky was louder than all the pain we'd lived through.
And this time, the future didn't scare me.
It belonged to us.