Chapter 236 Would You Be Willing to Marry Me Again?
An uncontrollable warmth spread from below.
My water had broken.
I was lying on a bed being wheeled into the delivery room. We'd rehearsed this process beforehand, so I stayed calm.
Lucas, who usually killed people without batting an eye, was completely tense at this moment, even his voice carrying an almost imperceptible tremor.
The fetal heart monitor beeped with regular, steady sounds. The contractions hadn't reached their most intense yet. After examining me, the doctor said patiently, "The cervix isn't fully dilated yet.Save your strength. There's no need to rush, no need to worry—I'm talking to you, Mr. Valeri. Please relax!"
I nudged Lucas's arm. "Stop being so nervous. I'm a bit thirsty."
Lucas nodded hard. "I'll get you some water."
"Not water." I blinked. "I want an apple."
"Okay, wait for me."
Soon, he brought back a bowl of peeled, thinly sliced apples and fed them to me with a fork.
The sweet juice spread across my tongue. In a good mood, I picked up my phone and called Gale first.
"Bella?" Gale asked sharply. "Is it time?"
"Yes, my water broke." I heard chaos on the other end—rapid gunfire in the background, confused footsteps, hushed commands, and the dull thuds of objects colliding.
Even through the screen, I could feel the tension.
Gale's voice was low and cold. "Stephen has incited the Marr family, the Caudill family, and the Woods family to attack the Thornfield family. The Thornfield family is already on the verge of collapse."
I paused for a few seconds, bit into the apple slice Lucas offered, and asked vaguely, "Just like what happened to our family back then?"
"Yes." Gale's response was almost cruelly calm.
Lucas gripped my hand, his warmth steadying my emotions. I smiled at him.
Just then Brian rushed in. "Bella, how are you feeling? Fighting just broke out in Dawnharbor, and now there's chaos here too."
I noticed bloodstains on Brian's clothes and asked with concern, "How is it outside?"
"Fine. Ordinary people are hiding at home. The fighting in the Chaotic Zone is pretty brutal, but Matteo can handle it. Plus, thanks to Bella's community classes, ordinary people know how to give first aid and bandage wounds. The casualty rate shouldn't be too high."
"That's good." Relieved, I called Marcus.
Marcus had gone to support Gale a few days ago. The background on his end sounded quiet.
"Bella, are you having the baby?" Marcus asked excitedly. "Most of the Thornfield family fled for their lives, and the rest are busy fighting. Gale told me to take advantage of the chaos and grab some stuff. Wait for me to bring back treasures."
From Marcus's cheerful tone, I knew he must have made quite a haul.
The contractions gradually became more frequent.
Lucas gripped my hand tightly, his palm covered in cold sweat, more nervous than I was.
With each wave of pain, he trembled too, constantly calling my name, cheering me on, and repeating over and over that he loved me.
At dawn, a clear yet soft cry pierced through the darkness to greet the morning. Mine and Lucas's daughter was born.
Though she was wrinkled, with her eyes tightly shut and crying at random, I found her incredibly adorable.
Lucas had practiced holding a baby with a doll countless times, but when he finally held a real baby, he was still completely stiff, though his gaze was infinitely tender.
Our little angel was born amid a storm of turmoil. We named her Angel.
Lucas carefully yet clumsily touched Angel's little cheek, then leaned down to kiss my forehead.
His eyes were red, moist with wild joy and tenderness.
"Bella, thank you."
"Thank you for coming into my life, giving me a family, and such a wonderful child."
I looked at Lucas, my smile spreading. "No need to thank me."
The Thornfield family was destroyed.
The Marr family thought they'd won, but Gale allied with the Caudill family and the Woods family to ambush them. Their fate wasn't much better than the Thornfield family's.
Angelina's leg was broken—she could never dance again. Alfred rescued her and kept her by his side.
The two had met back when Alfred followed Lucas's orders to sabotage Angelina's performance. According to Angelina, Alfred was fierce and scary, like a man-eating bear, yet after completing his mission, he picked up her dance shoes and carefully placed them back on the table.
That small detail was etched in Angelina's heart, pushing her to break free from being a tool for family alliances.
The star family system was preserved, but months of violent expansion had severely damaged many families. After this struggle, Dawnharbor's mafia forces wouldn't recover for at least ten years.
I was happy to see this outcome.
The vacant business channels, assets, and territories were mostly divided between Gale and Lucas. Plus, Marcus had grabbed a huge amount of treasure during the chaos, bringing home considerable wealth.
Sure enough, working hard to earn money could never match the speed of getting rich through robbery.
At New Year's, I brought Lucas and Angel to pay respects to my parents and other family members with my brothers.
"Dad, Mom, Michelle is now a beggar wandering the streets. We wanted to bring her to see you, but worried about dirtying your graves and disturbing your rest.
I crouched down, gently stroking my parents' names on the tombstone, my eyes growing slightly warm.
"Stephen is dead too. He loved power; he was a natural schemer. Mom, why didn't you ever mention that you, Theron, Michelle, and Stephen were classmates?"
"Stephen secretly supported Michelle all these years. When our family suffered that disaster, Stephen was involved too."
"Theron exploited Stephen for years. Everyone knew his reputation for cunning, but while Theron seemed generous, he actually only paid Stephen an ordinary assistant's salary. Stephen needed money as capital to rise up, so he targeted our family."
My voice was soft. Wind swept through the treetops with a rustling sound, as if listening carefully.
"We also found out that Michelle's affair with her first love, that teacher—it was actually Stephen who instigated Michelle to set a trap and blackmail the teacher. Both of them were rotten to the core."
"Dad, Mom, we're doing well now. Gale finally met the right person—he and Julie have a stable relationship. Marcus and Jacqueline are always fighting and breaking up, but no matter how many times they break up, they always get back together."
"Karen and Jonathan's wedding was so lively!"
"Jonas is my pharmaceutical company's biggest partner. I handle production, he handles sales. I'll soon be the richest person in the family."
"As for Brian, he may not be a natural politician, but he's incredibly lucky. Right after taking office, achievements landed in his lap, and his future looked bright. But Brian never forgot his dream—he plans to retire within ten years. He met a super rich female fan. She's very wealthy, and I think Brian's dream of being supported by a woman will definitely come true."
Soft sunlight fell on the suburban cemetery. A gentle wind blew through the quiet trees and grass, brushing my face. I seemed to hear familiar light laughter and whispers in the wind.
Angel was in Lucas's arms, wrapped carefully in thick clothes. Lucas shielded her from the wind with his hand, but Angel seemed annoyed that he was blocking the sunlight, constantly reaching out to grab his hand.
"Angel, look, this is Grandpa and Grandma." I pointed at the tombstone.
Angel was lively and active, with endless energy in her tiny body. Young as she was, she loved to talk and would drool without warning.
I took out a handkerchief to wipe Angel's face and suddenly noticed she was clutching something in her hand.
It was a ring.
Angel looked up at me innocently, her soft little face tilted toward mine.
"What's this?" I asked, looking at Lucas.
"It's our wedding ring." Lucas pressed his lips together. "It's not a replica of the old one—it is that ring."
I stared wide-eyed in shock. "But didn't I throw that ring into the ocean?"
Lucas admitted sheepishly that after I threw the ring away, he didn't sleep all night. At dawn, he assembled salvage boats to try to find it.
A group of people searched and searched in the sea, thinking Lucas was crazy, too ridiculous—how could anyone find a tiny ring in such a vast ocean?
Lucas stood in the sea breeze for half a day, came to his senses, calmed down, and ordered everyone back. Unexpectedly, some time later, during maintenance on that yacht, they found a ring stuck on the hull.
"When the ring was found, I was so grateful that our love hadn't sunk into the sea." Lucas took a deep breath, stuffed Angel into my arms, pulled out a small velvet box from his pocket, and knelt on one knee before me.
A brand new, simple yet dazzling ring lay in the box.
Lucas looked at me with tender seriousness. "The old wedding ring commemorates our past. This new ring means a new beginning. Bella, will you get back together with me and marry me again?"
"For this lifetime, for the rest of our lives, you are the snow and wind, you are the ordinary days, you are the glory, and my tenderness and love are only for you both."
I sniffled, tears welling in my eyes.
Just then, my brothers had mixed reactions.
Gale snorted.
Brian said, "Bella, think it over."
Marcus was sarcastic. "Nice confession lines. Did you come up with them yourself or copy them from the internet?"
Lucas was speechless.
I laughed through my tears and extended my hand. "Yes."
Lucas joyfully slipped the ring onto my finger and pulled both Angel and me into his embrace.
"Thank you both. I love you."