Chapter 163 Chapter 163

Chapter 163 Chapter 163
Taylor's POV

Maria called before I even got out of bed the next morning, her voice carrying an edge of controlled excitement I hadn't heard in a while.

"I have someone you need to meet," she said.

"His name is Kevin and he used to work security detail for Luna's personal staff, years back, before he transferred out. He reached out to me last night after hearing rumors about the investigation reopening."

"What does he know?" I asked, sitting up fast.

"Enough to matter," Maria said.

"He noticed things back then that never sat right with him. Small inconsistencies in Luna's private communications that he brushed off at the time because questioning her felt unthinkable. He's finally ready to talk."

I met them both at Maria's office an hour later, Kevin a quiet, nervous man in his forties, clearly uneasy about what he was about to reveal.

"I should have said something years ago," he admitted, twisting his hands together.

"But you don't question Luna, not without proof, not without risking your entire career and reputation."

"What did you notice?" Maria asked gently.

"Encrypted messages," he said.

"Sent from a private line separate from her official palace communications. I only saw it once, by accident, but the timing matched exactly with something that happened shortly after. A private security breach that got quietly buried."

"Do you remember when this was?" I asked.

"About three years ago," Kevin replied.

"Right around when Hunter and Asher's situation started becoming more complicated."

The timeline matched perfectly with everything else we'd already uncovered.

"Would you be willing to give a formal statement," Maria asked. "Testify, if it comes to that?"

Kevin hesitated, fear evident in his expression, but finally nodded.

"If it means finally stopping whatever's actually been happening this whole time, yes. I'm willing."



I left that meeting with my mind spinning, the pieces sliding closer together than ever before, and drove straight home, needing the quiet comfort of family before facing whatever came next.

I found Mom resting on the couch, weaker than I wanted to see her.

Though the healers assured us repeatedly that with continued rest, she'd fully recover eventually.

"You look tired," she said gently, noticing my expression the moment I walked in.

"It's been a lot," I admitted, sitting beside her. "How are you feeling today?"

"Better," she said, though her voice still carried exhaustion beneath it.

"Slow, but better."

I sat with her a while, grateful for the quietness, until she mentioned something that surprised me.

"I got a job offer," she said.

"At the little coffee shop downtown, simple hours and nothing demanding. I think it might actually be good for me, having something normal to focus on again."

"Are you sure you're strong enough?" I asked, worry creasing my brow.

"I need this, Taylor," she said firmly.

"I've spent this whole year being cared for, being protected, being the one everyone worries about. I want to feel useful again. I want to help provide for this family instead of just being someone everyone else has to carry."

I understood that need completely, having felt it myself more than once this past year.

"Then I support you," I said. "Just promise me you'll rest when your body tells you to."

"I promise," she said, squeezing my hand.



Asher arrived that evening, his expression carrying a nervous energy I hadn't seen from him in a while, something clutched carefully in his jacket pocket that he kept touching absently.

"Can we talk," he announced. "Somewhere private."

We walked out to the porch together, the evening settling cool and quiet around us, stars just beginning to emerge overhead.

"Now that the law's overturned," he said.

His voice was unsteady in a way that immediately made my heart race.

"I want to do this properly, officially, not rushed, not born out of crisis or fear the way so much of this year has been."

He knelt down slowly, pulling a small box from his jacket, and my breath caught completely.

"Taylor Whitman," he said, his voice thick with emotion. "I've loved you since the moment you accepted my handshake outside that ice rink, feeling that spark neither of us expected.”

“I've fought for you, bled for you, waited patiently through everything this year demanded of both of us. Now that we're finally free to choose this completely, without ancient law or covenant crisis standing in the way, I want to ask you properly. Will you bond with me? Officially, permanently, exactly the way we both deserve?"

Tears streamed down my face as I nodded, unable to form words for a long moment. "Yes," I finally managed. "Yes, Asher, completely and always."

He slid the ring onto my finger, simple and elegant, and pulled me into his arms, both of us laughing and crying together on that quiet porch, finally free to celebrate something joyful without the shadow of danger looming immediately behind it.

"I want to take care of you," he said, pulling back to look at me seriously.

"All of you, your mom, your dad, everyone. Whatever this family needs, I'm ready to provide it, completely, for as long as you'll have me."

"We're not your responsibility to carry alone," I said softly. "But thank you, for wanting to."

Mom appeared in the doorway then, drawn by the sound of our laughter, her face lighting up the moment she saw the ring on my finger.

"Oh, Taylor," she breathed, tears gathering fast in her own eyes.

We celebrated together on that porch late into the evening, Mom's exhaustion momentarily forgotten in the joy of the moment.

Dad arrived the partway through to add his own tearful congratulations.

For a few precious hours, the investigation, the hidden threat still lurking somewhere close to this family, all of it faded into the background, replaced by pure, uncomplicated happiness.

My phone buzzed just as the celebration began winding down, Maria's name lighting up the screen.

I stepped away quietly to answer, still smiling from the evening's joy.

"Taylor," Maria said, her voice tight and urgent in a way that instantly drained the warmth from my chest.

"Kevin's statement checked out completely. I have enough now to move forward officially. But there's something else, something I need to tell you before this goes any further."

"What is it?" I asked, my happiness already curdling into dread.

"The Luna knows we're investigating," Maria said quietly.

"She requested a private meeting with the council an hour ago. Taylor, I think she's about to move first.”