Chapter 213: Is This Forever?

“Will you marry me?”

Watching him in front of her, multiple emotions swelled in her chest—love, joy, fulfillment, and a whole lot more.

Like a panorama, every single moment they had shared together replayed in her mind.

From the first time she had seen him from the shadows, to their beautiful moments when they made love, to the painful moments of their separation, until they once again met and their feelings grew even stronger. She found herself realizing that every moment was beautiful, the pain, the hardships, the struggles—it had all led them here, to this moment, and had they not been through all that pain, perhaps their love wouldn’t have blossomed into these blissful moments they now had.

In her heart and in her mind, she knew that more than anything, she wanted those moments to last a lifetime, to build a family with him, to live every moment she had with him by her side. Life was long and unpredictable, but she wanted to live that with him.

If in the future there was pain, she was willing to embrace it with him. If there would be heartbreak, she would accept it, as long as it was with him. He was her world—her happy moments, her hard times, and her relief as well.

“Tristan… I’m willing to live this lifetime with you, and the next, and the next to come…”

He smiled, a toothy smile that gave him an unexpected youthful allure.

“…I love you, and yes, I will marry you.”

His smile widened, grinning brightly, one could tell the indescribable amount of joy he was feeling.

He slowly slid the ring onto her fair finger. It sat perfectly on her ring finger—made for her, just for her.

Getting up on his feet, he looked at her with bliss and pure joy in his eyes, both smiling at each other before he reached in, cupping her face. He drew her close, taking her lips in a deep kiss.

The whole place suddenly brightened, and along with that came loud cheers from what seemed like a crowd of people.

After the kiss broke, Celine realized they were in a large hall filled with a number of people, most of them familiar faces.

Beaming, she looked around—everyone was here. The kids and Natalia who winked knowingly at her, Celine looked at her in surprise, wasn’t she just at home to stay with the kids? Her eyes fell on the two little ones, both formally dressed. Leo, who always looked indifferent, had a smile on his face, and Leah was wearing a cute pink dress that was almost the same shade as the one Celine was wearing.

Realization dawned on Celine—no wonder the girl had been so picky about helping her choose a dress, she had probably been in on this little plan of Tristan’s. However, she smiled at her daughter, who was beaming happily while they cheered.

She caught sight of some of his family members as well—his strict looking grandfather, who would be meeting her and the children for the first time and an equally strict looking woman by his side, and some other unfamiliar faces.

She could see some other people from the Grayson Corp employees; Kaleb was also standing among them. Everyone present was extremely happy for the couple who seemed to have found their forever.

With his arms around her waist as he held her, she wrapped her arms around his neck, their foreheads touching, the hall filled with celebratory cheers from their friends and loved ones.

Love happens in so many different ways. For them, love came all too sudden and unexpected, starting from a single glance, and from that moment, it had led to this moment of bliss through a road full of ups and downs. But the strong power of true love triumphed through it all.

—

Natalia watched her best friend with a wide, happy smile on her face. She was more than happy for her friend, she had found true love.

Natalia could still remember years ago when they were still in high school, how the two of them, in their early teenage years, had fantasized about finding love—a man who would be like a prince charming, a man who would be every girl’s dream but would still choose them, someone meant for them. And regardless of the long years Celine had spent in hardships, all the struggles and all the tears, she had still found her prince charming.

With a delighted smile, Natalia cheered loudly for the couple. However, with a fleeting glance, her eyes suddenly fell on someone on the other side of the hall.

A familiar face.

One she could never forget.

Her heart stopped, and her smile fell immediately.

Halting her actions, she stood dumbstruck, but she quickly recovered a second later as her eyes scanned around the place to find the familiar face she had just seen, but who had seemed to suddenly disappear.

The music and the cheering crowd seemed to fade into the background. With her heart thudding loudly in her chest, Natalia took hurried steps toward the other side of the hall. She was in such a hurry she almost broke into a run, but upon getting there, the spot she thought he had been standing in earlier was completely empty.

Frustrated, she swung her head around, looking all around the hall in search, but it seemed like an illusion, as she couldn’t find the person she thought she had seen. Just when she was about to give up, at another corner of the hall leading to the entrance, she caught sight of a very familiar back. He seemed to be heading outside. Without thinking of the painful past or the loss she had forced herself to forget, Natalia picked up her pace and quickly ran after him.

She went out through the entrance, coming into a long hallway that looked completely empty, since Tristan had the whole building cleared for the engagement party. Natalia ran down the hallway, bewildered at where the person she had just seen could have gone, when she had clearly sighted him just leaving. However, regardless of how many corners she checked, she couldn’t find him at all.

Defeated, she finally stopped running around, trying to find a person who might as well have just been a figment of her own imagination.

Leaning against a wall in the empty corridor, Natalia sighed deeply, slowly closing her eyes, an expression of deep pain marring her face.

“You are the only woman I want to spend my life with… only you.”

His soft words rang in her mind, and immediately, warm tears streaked down her face as she slumped down against the wall.

From the hallway, she could still hear the festive sounds of music drifting from the engagement hall. However, her heart, which had just been filled with joy for her friend finding true love, suddenly shattered into pieces once again. It felt as though all the effort she had made to forget her pain had been ruined completely by seeing him again. The tall walls in her heart came crashing down, and all that pain and bitterness rushed in anew, choking her heart and her throat until painful sobs escaped.

Sitting alone in the silent corridors of the hotel, Natalia let her heart open and cried painfully.

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