< Chapter 118
<b>Chapter </b><b>118 </b>
(Dorian’s POV)
+25 Points
My phone buzzes just as I finish reviewing the quarterly reports. Elena’s name shes on the screen, and I can already hear the excitement in her voice before I even answer.
“Dorian, you need toe home right now.”
“What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
“Nothing’s wrong, darling. Everything’s perfect. That lovely girl of yours just agreed to consider getting engaged to you.”
I drop my pen, papers scattering across my desk as I lean back in
my
chair.
“She said that?”
“Well, not in so many words. But when I asked her directly about marriage, she said she’d think about it. And trust me, grandson, when a woman says she’ll think about marriage, she’s already nning the wedding dress in her head.”
I can’t help butugh. Elena’s matchmaking attempts have been painfully obvious. She must be stoked to see herbor bearing fruits.
“I have to call her.”
“You do that. And Dorian? Don’t mess this up. That woman has been hurt enough.” <fnce44> N?w ?ovel chapt?rs are published on find{n}ovel</fnce44>
The line goes dead, leaving me staring at my phone. My hands are actually shaking as I scroll through my contacts to find Scarlett’s number. This is ridiculous. I’m a grown man who runs a multi–billion dorpany, and I’m nervous about calling a woman.
But then, this isn’t just any woman. This is Scarlett.
She answers on the third ring, her voice soft and tired. “Hello?”
“Scarlett, it’s me. Elena just called.”
“Oh.” There’s a pause, <i>and </i>I can hear Lily chattering in the background. “She moves fast.”
“She does. But I needed to hear it from you. Did you really say you’d consider marrying me?”
Another pause. Longer this time. I hold my breath, waiting.
“I said I’d think about it. There’s a difference.”
< Chapter 118
“But you’re considering me, right?”
+25 Points
“Dorian, I’m not ready to make any big promises. But I’m ready to try dating you. Really dating you. Not just pretending for your family or going through the motions. If you’re okay with taking things slow-”
“Yes,” The wordes out too fast, too eager, but I don’t care. “Yes, I’m more than okay with
that.”
“Good. Because I need to be sure this time. I need to know that what we’re building is real.”
“It is real, Scarlett. At least for me.”
“Then let’s find out together.”
(Scarlett’s POV)
After I hang up with Dorian, I sit on my bed holding the phone against my chest. The conversation reys in my mind. I should be happy, relieved.
Nervous even, anticipating the future.
But all I feel is a strange unease and restlessness. Will this really work, or am I rushing into things?
Lily bounces into my room, clutching the butterfly toy Elena gave her. “Mama, was that Uncle Dorian?”
“Yes, baby.”
<i>“</i>Are you going to marry him?”
The question catches me off guard. “Why would you ask that?”
“Because Grandma Elena said she wanted us to be family.”
I pull her onto the bed beside me, smoothing her dark curls. “Would you like it if Uncle Dorian and I got married?”
She nods enthusiastically. “Then I’d have a daddy and Grandma Elena would make us cookies every day. And we could live in the big house with the swing set.”
My heart clenches. A daddy. Such a simple wish from a little girl who’s never had her father by her side.
“Uncle Dorian is very nice to us,” I agree.
< Chapter 118
“Yes, he’s not like the other daddy.”
“What do
you
mean?”
:
+25 Points
Lily scrunches up her face, thinking. “Other daddy makes you cry. Uncle Dorian makes you smile. I like it when you smile, Mama.”
Other daddy. She means Jasper, of course. And she’s right. Every encounter with Jasper leaves me emotionally drained, while every moment with Dorian feels… peaceful.
“I like smiling too,” I tell her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.
After Lily falls asleep, I find myself standing in front of my dresser, staring at the bottom drawer where I keep things I can’t quite throw away but can’t bear to look at every day.
I pull out the photo Elena mentioned seeing earlier–the one of me, James, and ir fromst Christmas. We look like a real family in the picture. James has his arm around both of us, ir isughing at something I said, and I look genuinely happy.
It’s all a lie now.
I trace their faces with my finger, remembering how loved I felt that day. How secure. How certain that no matter what happened with Jasper, I’d always have them.
But people change. Families change. And sometimes the people who promised to love you forever won’t always be the ones at your side in the end.
I walk to my suitcase and bury the photo at the very bottom, under clothes I rarely wear and books I’ll probably never read again.
“From now on, I’ll no longer live in the past,” I whisper to the empty room. “I’ll look towards the future.”
Tomorrow, I’m going on a real date with Dorian. I’m going to wear a pretty dress and let him hold my hand because I deserve to be loved, to be cherished, and to be happy too.
(Jasper’s POV)
I call Scarlett’s number again. The seventeenth time, seventeen calls that all go straight to voicemail. She’s probably blocked my number but I can’t stop trying.
I need her to know that I had nothing to do with the house being sold. I didn’t lie to her.
I need her to give me one more chance.
But she won’t even pick up my calls anymore, let alone listen to my apologies.
< Chapter 118
+25 Points
My assistant, Sarah, pokes her head into my office. “Mr. ke? You have the Henderson meeting in ten minutes.”
“Cancel it.”
“Sir?”
“Cancel all my meetings today. I have a personal matter to take care of.”
She nods and disappears, probably relieved she doesn’t have to sit through another hour of me being distracted and irritable.
I grab my keys and head for the elevator. If Scarlett won’t answer my calls, I’ll have to find another way to reach her. Maybe if I show up at the bakery, she’ll give me a chance to talk.
The drive to the bakery isn’t fast enough.
When I finally pull up outside her store, I find it closed.
=
Violet Moon
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