Chapter 165 Our Happy Ever After

Chapter 165 Our Happy Ever After
Darcy's POV

If someone had told me months ago that I would be standing here with both feet firmly planted on the ground, I would have laughed through my tears.

Back then, walking felt impossible.

Breathing without pain felt impossible.

Smiling without forcing it felt impossible.

Sometimes I still wake up thinking everything was a dream.

The fire.

The wheelchair.

Camille.

The endless fear that tomorrow might never come. Then I open my eyes and the first thing I see is sunlight spilling across our bedroom.

A peace I once believed was impossible.

I smile to myself before sitting up carefully. My legs still ache whenever the weather becomes cold, but the pain no longer scares me. It reminds me of how far I've come.

Three months ago, I couldn't even stand without someone's help.

Now, I can walk. The doctors still tell me not to overwork myself. Adrian tells me the same thing every single day.

Sometimes I think the two of them planned it together.

"Mommy!"

Hazel's tiny voice pulls me from my thoughts. The bedroom door swings open before she runs inside wearing one pink sock and one white one.

"Mornin'."

I laugh. "Good morning, sweetheart."

She climbs onto the bed before wrapping her tiny arms around me.

"I miss you." I kiss her forehead.

"You only woke up five minutes ago."

"I still miss you."

A chuckle escapes my lips.

She has become much healthier. Her cheeks are full again. Her laughter fills every room.

Sometimes I simply watch her breathe because there was a time I almost lost her. The thought still frightens me.

"Are my girls awake already?" Adrian appears by the doorway wearing a simple sweater and jeans.

He looks different these days. His smile reaches his eyes again. The deep exhaustion that used to follow him everywhere has finally disappeared.

Hazel immediately stretches both arms toward him. "Daddy!"

He lifts her effortlessly. "My princess."

She kisses both his cheeks dramatically. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"Guess what ladies, I prepared breakfast and it's your favorite." He announced excitedly.

"Yeeeeeeeee" Hazel and I throw out hands in the air excitedly.

"Since when did you start eating so much?" Adrian smirks.

"Maleek spoiled me I guess." I teased him and that made him groan.

I hold my stomach, laughing aloud.

Seven hours later, Adrian told me he wanted to take me somewhere special.

Naturally, I asked questions.

He answered none of them. "You'll see." Those two words became his favorite.

When the car finally stopped near the lake overlooking the mountains, I frowned. "Adrian, what are we doing here?"

He smiled mysteriously. "Trust me."

He helped me out before taking my hand. The moment we rounded the corner. I stopped walking.

White roses.

Fairy lights.

Candles.

Soft music drifting through the evening air. My breath caught. It looked like something from a dream.

Then people slowly stepped out one after another.

His mother, Reynolds, Julius, Killian, Dylan, Jim and the last person I expected to ever see again. My father.

Maleek and a tall slender lady beside him.

Every single person who had become part of our journey. Tears blurred my vision. I looked back at Adrian.

"What..."

Before I could finish speaking, he slowly knelt.

"No..." I whispered while he smiled through watery eyes.

"I've rehearsed this speech so many times but I still forgot half of it." He groans with a playful smirk on his face.

Everyone laughed softly.

He reached for both my hands. "You've loved me in my darkest days, when I thought I'd never smile again and when everything around us was falling apart." He swallowed.

"And now, I finally get to love you without fear." His voice trembled. "You gave Hazel back her happiness and you gave me back my life."

"You became my home long before I realized it. I've always called you my woman and now, I want to make you permanently mine."

Slowly, he opened the velvet box. A diamond sparkled beneath the lights.

"Darcy..."

"Will you do me the greatest honor of being your husband? Will you marry me?"

I couldn't speak. I simply cried, still clutching onto Hazel.

Hazel suddenly tugged his sleeve. "Daddy..."

He looked at her.

"You forgot."

Everyone laughed.

"What did I forget?"

She pointed at me. "Say please. Beg mommy."

Even Adrian laughed. He looked back at me. "Please my love..."

"Will you marry me?"

I nodded repeatedly. "Yes."

The tears wouldn't stop. "Yes. A thousand times yes."

Applause echoed around us. Adrian slipped the ring onto my finger before pulling me into his arms.

For a long moment...

Nothing else existed.

Only us.

A week later, Maleek arrived from America. Hazel screamed the moment she saw him. "Uncle Maleek!"

He laughed before lifting her into the air. "I missed you too my love."

Only, he wasn't alone. He returned with the lady he came with to the proposal. Adrian and I ignored him and welcomed the lady warmly.

Maleek scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. "This is..." He cleared his throat. "...Mara."

Everyone stared. Then Adrian folded his arms.

"So, the man who swore he'd never date again suddenly has a girlfriend?"

Laughter erupted around the room. Maleek groaned. "I knew this would happen."

Mara laughed beside him.

Within an hour, she and I were already talking like old friends. By evening we were exchanging recipes and later at dinner we were laughing over embarrassing stories about Maleek.

He sighed dramatically. "I just introduced you. How are you already friends?"

I smiled. "I think she's stuck with me now." Mara nodded immediately. "I don't mind."

Maleek buried his face in his hands.

"I'm outnumbered. Wait... I'm not, I still have my goddaughter, Hazel. Right baby?" He smirks.

"Oh no uncle, I'm a girl's girl. I'm with mummy and auntie."

Everyone burst out in laughter except Maleek.

"I'm counting on you man," Maleek pleads with a low voice.

"I hate to disappoint but I'll choose my wife over you a million times." Adrian pats his shoulder.

"Damn. I'm done for!"

The wedding took place a few weeks later.

It was extravagant because according to Adrian, I deserve the world. Our wedding wasn't about business or the media.

It was about family.

About love.

About finally choosing happiness.

My father walked me down the aisle with tears filling his eyes. Before letting go of my hand, he whispered, "I'm proud of the woman you've become."

I hugged him tightly.

When I reached the altar, Adrian was already crying. I laughed softly and wipe his tears.

"You started before I even got here?"

"You look..." He shook his head. "...too beautiful."

The ceremony itself passed in a blur but every moment was precious. Every second mattered and I hold them dear.

The vows.

The rings.

The kiss.

The applause.

Somewhere in the crowd, I noticed Adrian's mother wiping away tears.

Even Reynolds looked suspiciously emotional. Only Maleek kept pretending something had entered his eye.

Two months later....

Life hasn't exactly become private. Apparently marrying Adrian Ashford means privacy no longer exists.

No matter where we go, someone recognizes us.

At the park, someone secretly photographs Adrian pushing Hazel on the swing.

At the café, another person captures the moment I steal fries from Adrian's plate.

During shopping, someone records Hazel sitting inside the shopping cart while Adrian pretends to race down the aisle.

The internet somehow turns every ordinary family outing into headlines.

THE ASHFORD FAMILY SPOTTED AGAIN.

BILLIONAIRE ADRIAN ASHFORD CHOOSES FAMILY OVER BUSINESS.

I used to hate it and now, I just ignore all of it. Because once we step inside our home, none of those cameras follow us.

I'm the evening, Adrian and I slipped away to the garden for a moment of quiet. Hazel sat between us wrapped inside a tiny blanket. She looked up at us with sleepy eyes.

Then suddenly placed one tiny hand on my stomach. I frowned. "What is it, sweetheart?"

She smiled. "I want baby."

Adrian blinked. "What?"

She nodded seriously. "Baby." She looked at me again.

I covered my face as laughter escaped me. Adrian laughed beside me. "Our daughter certainly doesn't waste time."

Hazel nodded proudly. I looked at Adrian and he looked back at me. Neither of us spoke. We didn't need to.

Everything we wanted...

Everything we almost lost...

Sat right between us.

For years, life had been filled with fear, lies and heartbreak. But standing there beneath the stars with the man I loved and the little girl who had taught us both how to hope again.

I finally understood something. Happy endings don't happen because life becomes perfect. They happen because, after surviving the storm, you find people worth walking through the sunshine with.

And for the first time in a very long while, the future no longer frightened me.

It finally felt like home.

THE END