Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Chapter 122
Lucia’s POV
The car slowed as we reached the marina.
I didn’t ask where we were going again. I had already asked once. Alexander had only smiled, that quiet smile of his, the one that always made it hard to push further.
The sky was soft tonight. Orange melting into pink. The kind of sky that made everything look gentle, even things that weren’t.
Even me.
The car stopped.
Alexander stepped out first, then came around to my side. He opened the door and held out his hand.
“Come,” he said.
His voice was calm. Steady. Like always.
I looked at his hand for a second before taking it.
Warm. Firm. Real.
We walked down the dock together. The sound of water hitting wood echoed softly around us. Boats lined both sides. Expensive ones. The kind people bought to show power, not to feel peace.
I had seen many like this before.
But today felt different.
I didn’t know why.
Then I saw it.
At the end of the dock.
Bigger than the others. White. Clean. Quiet in a way that drew attention instead of avoiding it.
And the name.
Painted clearly on the side.
Lucia.
My steps slowed.
Then stopped.
I stared at it. My name. Not Isabella. Not the name I had used to destroy people.
Lucia.
The girl I used to be.
The girl I wasn’t sure still existed.
“You named it after me?” I asked.
My voice came out softer than I expected.
“I bought it for you,” he said simply.
I turned to look at him. “You bought a yacht.”
“Yes.”
“Just like that?”
He shrugged lightly. “I thought you might need somewhere quiet. Somewhere no one can reach you. Somewhere you can just be.”
Something in my chest shifted.
It wasn’t about the yacht. Not really.
It was the thought behind it.
No one had done something like that for me in a long time.
Not without expecting something back.
Not without hidden reasons.
Just… giving.
Just caring.
I didn’t know what to do with that feeling.
So I said nothing.
He didn’t push.
He never pushed.
We stepped onto the yacht. The crew greeted us politely, then disappeared like shadows. Giving us space without being told.
The engine started softly.
The dock slowly moved away.
Or maybe we moved away from it.
I couldn’t tell.
The city began to shrink behind us.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I needed to look back.
Alexander led me to the deck.
A table was already set.
Candles flickered in the wind. Somehow still standing. Still burning.
Everything looked perfect.
Too perfect.
“When did you do all this?” I asked.
“Today.”
“Today?”
“I didn’t want to wait.”
That answer did something to me.
People always waited.
They delayed. They hesitated. They changed their minds.
But he didn’t.
We sat down.
The food came quietly. Fresh fish. Vegetables. Wine.
I barely tasted it at first.
My mind was somewhere else.
Somewhere between past and present.
Somewhere between who I was and who I had become.
Alexander watched me for a moment before speaking.
“Tell me about you,” he said.
I frowned slightly. “You already know everything.”
“I know what happened to you,” he said. “I want to know you.”
That hit deeper than I expected.
“Before everything,” he added. “Before him. Before all of it. Just you.”
I looked down at my hands.
At the faint scars no one noticed unless they looked closely.
At the fingers that had signed papers that destroyed people.
At the hands that used to hold books in quiet cafes.
“She was… simple,” I said slowly.
“She?”
“Me. Before.”
I swallowed.
“She liked small things. Coffee. Books. Quiet places. She believed people meant what they said. She believed love stayed. That if you gave your heart to someone, they wouldn’t crush it.”
My voice felt strange.
Like I was talking about someone else.
Not myself.
“What did she want?” he asked.
I let out a small breath.
“Nothing big. Just… someone who stayed. Someone who chose her. Not because she had money. Not because she was useful. Just because she was her.”
I laughed softly.
“It sounds stupid now.”
“It doesn’t,” he said.
I looked at him.
His hand reached across the table and covered mine.
Warm again.
Steady again.
“You think she’s gone,” he said quietly. “But she’s not.”
“You don’t know that.”
“I do.”
“How?” My voice sharpened a little. “You didn’t see what I became. You didn’t feel it. You didn’t live it.”
“I saw enough,” he said. “And I’m still here.”
That stopped me.
“I saw you destroy people,” he continued. “I saw how far you went. And I also saw why.”
I pulled my hand back slightly.
“You should hate me.”
“I don’t.”
“I became someone cruel.”
“You became someone who survived.”
Silence settled between us.
The water moved around the yacht.
Soft. Endless.
“I’m scared,” I admitted.
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
“Of me?” he asked.
“Of everything.”
I looked away. Out at the darkening horizon.
“Of trusting again. Of believing someone won’t leave. Of thinking something is real and finding out it’s not. I was that girl once. I trusted. I believed. And it destroyed me.”
My throat tightened.
“I don’t know if I can survive that again.”
Alexander stood up.
Walked around the table.
Then he did something I didn’t expect.
He knelt beside me.
Not dramatic. Not rushed.
Just… real.
“Lucia,” he said softly.
I looked at him.
“You’re right. You don’t know if I’ll hurt you. You don’t know if this will last. You don’t know anything for sure.”
“Exactly.”
“But neither do I,” he said.
That caught me off guard.
“What?”
“I don’t know if you’ll push me away one day. I don’t know if your past will come back and take you from me. I don’t know if I’ll lose you.”
His voice stayed calm.
But I could hear something under it.
Something real.
“Love is not certainty,” he said. “It’s choice. Every day. You choose. I choose.”
I felt my chest tighten.
He reached into his pocket.
Pulled out a small box.
My breath stopped.
He opened it.
The ring caught the candlelight.
Simple. Clean. Beautiful.
Not loud. Not excessive.
Just… right.
“Marry me,” he said.
No long speech.
No dramatic words.
Just that.
Simple.
Honest.
My heart started beating too fast.
“This is crazy,” I whispered.
“Maybe.”
“I’m not… I’m not normal anymore.”
“I know.”
“I’ve done things.”
“I know.”
“I don’t even know who I am sometimes.”
“I know.”
Tears filled my eyes.
“Why do you still want me?”
His answer came without hesitation.
“Because you’re you.”
That broke something inside me.
Not in a painful way.
In a way that felt like something opening.
Something I had locked for a long time.
“I’m not easy to love,” I said.
“I’m not looking for easy.”
“I’m scared.”
“I know.”
I shook my head, tears falling now.
“I might ruin this.”
“Then we fix it.”
“I might push you away.”
“I’ll come back.”
“What if I can’t love you the right way?”
“Then we learn together.”
His hand tightened around mine.
“I’m not asking for perfection. I’m asking for you.”
The words settled deep.
Too deep.
I looked at the ring again.
Then at him.
This was everything I had once wanted.
And everything I had been too broken to believe in.
My chest hurt.
My hands shook.
But somewhere inside me, something small and quiet spoke.
The same voice from years ago.
The girl in the cafe.
The one who believed.
The one who loved.
She was still there.
Barely.
But she was there.
“Yes.”
The word came out soft.
Broken.
Real.
Alexander’s eyes searched mine. “Yes?”
I nodded, tears falling freely now.
“Yes.”
He slid the ring onto my finger.
It fit perfectly.
Like it had always belonged there.
Like this moment had been waiting for me.
Then he kissed me.
Slow. Careful.
Not taking.
Not demanding.
Just… there.
I closed my eyes.
And for the first time in a long time, I didn’t feel like I was pretending.
I felt like me.
Not Isabella.
Not the woman who destroyed people to survive.
Just… Lucia.
We stayed on the yacht for hours.
Talking.
About nothing important.
And everything important.
His childhood. Mine.
The parts of life that weren’t broken.
The parts that still felt soft.
When we returned, I didn’t want to leave.
But reality doesn’t wait.
It never does.
He drove me home.
Walked me to the door.
Kissed my forehead.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I nodded.
I watched him leave.
Then I looked at my hand.
The ring caught the light.
Real.
I stepped inside.
The house was quiet.
Too quiet.
“Lucia.”
I turned.
Salome sat in the study.
Watching me.
Her eyes moved to my hand.
She understood immediately.
“He asked.”
“Yes.”
“And you said yes.”
“Yes.”
She studied my face.
Longer this time.
Deeper.
“Is this what you want?”
The question settled heavily.
I looked at the ring again.
At everything it meant.
Fear.
Hope.
Risk.
Love.
“Yes,” I said.
This time, my voice was stronger.
“I want this.”
She stood.
Walked to me.
Then pulled me into a hug.
It surprised me.
She didn’t do this often.
“You deserve it,” she said quietly.
That almost made me cry again.
She pulled back.
“Go rest,” she said. “Tomorrow will come fast.”
I nodded.
Went upstairs.
Lay on the bed.
Staring at the ring.
Yes.
I had said yes.
To love.
To trust.
To something real.
But even as I closed my eyes, something cold stayed in my chest.
A reminder.
Anna’s warning.
Yvonne.
Still out there.
Still angry.
Still dangerous.
The past was not done with me.
Not yet.
I turned onto my side.
Held my hand close.
The ring pressed against my skin.
Warm.
Real.
“I’ll try,” I whispered to myself.
To him.
To the girl I used to be.
To the future I had just chosen.
“I’ll try.”
And for the first time in a long time, I let myself hope.
Even if it scared me.
Even if it could break me again.
I chose it anyway.
Yes.