Chapter 192

LEVI

“Let’s elope,” I said.

Isabella wiped her tears with the crumpled napkin, her eyes red and glistening. My chest felt heavy watching her—seeing her cry had always done something to me, even back then when we hated each other. But I didn’t stop her. It seemed like she was holding in so much, especially in front of me, so I let her get it all out.

“Elope?” she asked, a shaky laugh spilling out. “You’re not serious, are you?” Her eyes locked on mine, making heat thread across my skin.

“I’m dead serious,” I said, my voice carrying every ounce of it.

She sniffled, blew her nose, then looked up at me. Her eyes softened, the sadness in them replaced by something uncertain yet curious. “You believe me?” she whispered.

I exhaled. “I believe you,” I said quietly. “I can’t remember anything.” I exhaled again, frustrated. “Hell, I wish I could, but I can’t. Still, I know what I feel.” I reached across the table and took her hand in mine. “And I’m going to trust my gut. My heart. Fuck money. Fuck status. Fuck the past. Fuck all of it. I want you. I love you, Isabella. I don’t know where I was going the day I had that accident, or if I trusted you back then—but I do now. I trust you. Not my father. Not anyone else. You.”

I paused, the words sinking between us. She seemed surprised, yet I felt like I had so much more to confess but lacked the words for it. God, I loved this woman. I needed her—desperately. To be mine. Nothing else mattered—just her, exactly as she was.

“I want to spend the rest of my life proving that nothing else matters but you. That I trust you. That I choose you.”

She was still staring at me when I reached into my coat pocket and pulled out the contract we had signed. I’d taken it from my lawyer on the way here, and now I placed it on the desk.

“What’s this?” she asked, glancing at the envelope, then at me.

“The contract. I don’t think we need this anymore,” I said.

“Levi…”

“What do you say? Let’s leave this damn place. My private jet’s ready—we could be in Italy tonight. We could get married there. No contract. Just us.”

She stared at me like I had grown horns. Maybe I had. Maybe I’d lost my mind. But I didn’t care. Nothing else mattered except being hers—right now, tonight.

After the private investigator left, I’d felt uneasy, like he had fed me lies. I trusted my gut—it felt like my heart was about to explode, maybe because I had a hard time believing everything he’d said about her, or because the fight we’d had was driving me insane. The things I said to her, the things she said to me—I tried not to think about them, about her, but failed each time. I tried to text her multiple times, but deleted the messages before sending them.

When I went to the office, I couldn’t control myself anymore. I wanted the truth—needed it. So I went to Mrs. Sebastian’s office, and after I threatened to fire her if she didn’t tell me everything, she started spilling like a canary, bringing to light every single thing my father had tried to bury. Whatever pieces were missing were filled in when Isabella told me her side of the story.

My father. The man I’d spent my life trying to please—trying to prove I wasn’t as ungrateful as my mother—had turned out to be a thorn in my flesh. I always knew he was obsessed with wealth and reputation, but not like this—not to the point of framing the woman I love for murder, of trying to destroy her life just to keep his empire clean. I felt anger coil in my stomach, shame burn behind my eyes. Disappointment. Disgust.

“And my siblings,” Isabella said, breaking into my thoughts. “I can’t leave them here. If your father finds out what we’ve done, he might come for them.”

“They’ll come with us,” I said immediately. “I’ll send a driver to pick them up right now, take them straight to the airport. All you have to do is say yes.”

I reached for her hand again, brushing my thumb over the engagement ring on her finger. “What do you say?”

She stared at me for a long moment, then slipped her hands free. She picked up the contract, looked at it, and tore it straight down the middle. I could feel the eyes of some of the people in the restaurant on us, but I didn’t care.

Then she laughed—a pure, unrestrained laugh that filled the air and shattered the tension hanging between us.

“Yes,” she said, tears still glistening in her lashes. “I’ll elope with you, Levi. Of course. I love you.”