Chapter 252

Chapter 252
Emily's POV

Morning light filtered through the sheer curtains, painting golden stripes across the bed. I blinked awake slowly, my hand automatically moving to rest on the small swell of my belly.

The bedroom door opened with a soft knock. Jonathan stepped inside, his expression professionally neutral but his eyes warm.

"Good morning, Mrs. Ashford. I apologize for the early intrusion." He held a leather portfolio under one arm. "There's news regarding Miss Anna."

I sat up carefully, reaching for the robe draped over the chair beside the bed. "Come in, Jonathan. What happened?"

He approached, opening the portfolio. "She was apprehended tthis morning at a private airfield in Montreal. Chief Lincoln called this morning to confirm she's now in federal custody, undergoing investigation for multiple charges."

My fingers stilled on the robe's tie. "Multiple charges?"

"Wire fraud, conspiracy to commit kidnapping, and obstruction of justice." Jonathan's tone remained even. "The evidence Mr. Ashford's team compiled has been submitted to the prosecutor. Additionally, Philip Jones's recent election loss has effectively dismantled his political network. He's unable to provide the protection Miss Anna was counting on."

I exhaled slowly. So she finally has to face consequences for what she did.

"The legal team asked for your input on how you'd like to proceed," Jonathan continued, watching me carefully. "Given the nature of the threats against you, they could pursue maximum penalties."

I thought about Anna's face when we'd last seen her. The desperation. The venom. The calculated cruelty of using Stefan's childhood trauma against him.

"Tell them..." I paused, choosing my words. "Tell them I don't want to pursue every possible charge. But she needs to accept appropriate consequences for what she did. Let the justice system handle it fairly."

Jonathan's eyebrows rose slightly. "You're certain? After everything she—"

"I'm certain." I met his gaze. "This is the most generosity I can offer her, Jonathan. She made her choices. Now she lives with them."

He nodded slowly, respect flickering in his eyes. "I'll convey your decision to the attorneys immediately. Is there anything else you need this morning?"

"No, thank you. Where's Stefan?"

"Conference call with the Tokyo office. He asked me to let you know he'll be done within the hour." Jonathan moved toward the door, then paused. "If I may say so, Mrs. Ashford, your compassion is remarkable. Not many would show restraint after what she attempted."

After he left, I stayed sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at my hands. Compassion. Was that what this was? Or just exhaustion with the cycle of revenge and retaliation?

I thought about my parents. About everything I'd done to avenge them. About the people who'd suffered along the way.

Anna would face justice. That was enough. I didn't need to be the one wielding the sword anymore.

The baby shifted beneath my palm, a gentle flutter that made me smile despite everything.

Time to focus on the future instead of the past.

---

The afternoon sun warmed my shoulders as I sat on the wrought-iron bench in the back garden. My design notebook lay open on my lap, a pencil tucked behind my ear. The daisy bed Stefan had planted for me was in full bloom now, white petals bright against their yellow centers.

I'd been staring at this blank page for twenty minutes.

The wedding rings. I needed to design them. Stefan had asked me weeks ago if I wanted to choose something from the Ashford collection, but I'd declined. These needed to be ours. Something we created together, not inherited weight from his family's complicated history.

A daisy near my foot bent in the breeze, and suddenly the design clicked into place.

My pencil moved across the page almost of its own accord. Simple bands. Stefan's would be platinum, clean lines, masculine. Mine slightly more delicate, with a subtle twist to the metal that caught light. But on the inside of both rings, where only we would see...

I sketched the tiny engraved daisies, circling the interior bands.

Deep hidden love. That's what daisies meant. Perfect for us. For a love that had started with a six-year-old girl on a snowy mountain, dormant for fourteen years, and then bloomed into something neither of us had expected.

"You're smiling."

I looked up to find Stefan approaching with two glasses of milk. He'd rolled his shirtsleeves to his elbows, the late afternoon light making his dark hair shine almost blue-black.

God, he was beautiful.

"Just thinking," I said, closing the notebook slightly as he sat beside me.

"About?" He handed me one glass, his fingers brushing mine.

I took a sip of the milk—still warm, the way I'd been craving it lately—and debated whether to show him. But we'd promised no more secrets.

I opened the notebook again, angling it so he could see. "The wedding rings. What do you think?"

Stefan went very still. His eyes traced the sketches, lingering on the interior detail I'd drawn. When he looked up, his expression made my breath catch.

"The daisies," he said softly. "You put daisies inside."

"Their meaning felt right. Deep hidden love." I bit my lip. "Like how you searched for me every year without knowing it was me. Like how I fell for you before I even understood what was happening. Hidden, but always there."

He set his glass down on the bench's armrest and took the notebook from my hands, studying the design more closely. "These are for the wedding?"

"If you like them. I can design something else if—"

"They're perfect." His voice roughened. "You're perfect."

Heat crept up my neck. "I'm really not. I'm pregnant, my ankles are swelling, and I cried this morning because Jonathan moved my favorite coffee mug to a different cabinet."

Stefan laughed, pulling me against his side. "You're perfect for me. That's all that matters."

I leaned into his warmth, inhaling the scent of his cologne mixed with something uniquely him. The baby kicked, hard enough that Stefan must have felt it through my dress.