Chapter 9 - Building a Future
Two years passed. Julian and I built a life together that was rooted in everything Ethan and I had lacked: honesty, partnership, and profound mutual respect.
Julian didn't just love me; he loved my family. He spent weekends at my parents' house, helping my dad restore old cars or helping my mom plant her garden. He never once looked at them as anything less than royalty. He knew their struggles, he respected their hard work, and he cherished them because they made me who I was.
One rainy Tuesday, Julian came to my office at Vanguard. He closed the door behind him and locked it, a nervous but excited energy radiating from him.
“What are you doing?” I asked, amused as he walked around my desk.
“I had a meeting with your father this morning,” Julian said, taking my hands and pulling me up from my chair.
My breath hitched. “You did?”
Julian nodded, looking down into my eyes. “I asked him for his blessing. He told me that if I ever made you cry, he’d use his favorite wrench to disassemble my car while I was driving it.”
I burst out laughing, tears springing to my eyes. “That sounds like Dad.”
“Clara,” Julian said, his voice dropping to a soft, serious register as he dropped to one knee. He pulled a small velvet box from his pocket. Inside was a beautiful, elegant, understated ring—nothing like the gaudy rock Ethan had given me. It was perfect.
“You are the strongest, most brilliant, most compassionate woman I have ever known. You protect the people you love with a fierceness I am in awe of every single day. I want to spend the rest of my life earning the right to stand beside you. Will you marry me?”
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I didn't hesitate. I didn't have to think about his mother, or his status, or what he expected of me. I just looked at the man who saw all of me and loved every piece.
“Yes,” I whispered, pulling him up by his lapels to kiss him. “Yes, absolutely.”
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