Chapter 31

“Oh your mother told me alright,” Vincent said as he stepped into the veranda, taking the others by surprise, they didn't know he was home.

“Hello, Mr. Bright,” Samaira greeted politely, looking over at the man as he walked around to be next to his wife.

“Hello Samaira, Ash,” He smiled briefly and kissed his wife’s cheek.

“Well, what do you have to say about it?” Azrael wondered, switching his plate with Samaira’s, knowing she did not like her plate. The brussel sprout salad was not her thing.

“You were right. Deacon would ruin the company,” Vincent admitted, causing Azrael to almost spit out his drink.

“Mhm,” Azrael just hummed, a timid smile on his lips.

“I’m happy you found your success elsewhere,” His father admitted, tapping his back.

“Me too,” Azrael smiled weirdly then looked over at his girlfriend.

“Come on, let’s enjoy our brunch,” Ashley clapped her hands together. Sadly the two girls wouldn’t be joining them, due to work and school.

The four spoke as normal, not bothering to talk about what went down with Hailey and Deacon. The only thing they mentioned was feeling bad for poor Lara, she truly deserved better in all of this. Unlike her husband, she was very kind and helpful.

The couple went out to the movies after brunch then met with Akira and Emma and spent the day together. It wasn’t until night time that they got home and started preparing some dinner.

“Your phone,” Samaira pointed out and brought him his ringing phone.

“Oh thank you,” He mumbled, hastily drying his hands against his pants, and picked up the call, “Hello.”

“Azrael, I need your advice,” Lara’s voice sounded quite sad. Azrael looked over at Samaira and pointed to the pot for her to look after.

“Oh Lara, of course,” Azrael realized who it was and double-checked the caller ID.

“I want nothing to do with Deacon anymore,” she said, letting out a soft sigh. “I want to sell my share, or should I just write it over?” She wondered, hoping he’d help her. Maybe she was wrong to come to his family for advice on these things.

“It’s best if you sell it. Did you two sign a prenup?” Azrael answered, leaning over the counter as he spoke. He felt a smack on his ass and looked over to see Samaira grinning and glared at her.

“We did,” She informed him. “It leaves me with nothing which I’m ok with. I still have the apartment I bought before I got married and the family house was only to be passed to blood family members so Deacon can’t have anything there,” She added.

“That’s smart. Are you planning on divorcing him?” Azrael smiled. She deserved much better and of course, if he had to help her, he’d help her.

“I am, I just filed for it,” She spoke bitterly but she wasn’t to be blamed. She had been cheated on.

“Sell your share of the company after the divorce, that way he can’t try to ask for money from it,” Azrael advised, knowing how petty Deacon could be and would try to leave her penniless.

“Gosh, I’m so clueless about what to do next,” Lara sighed, you could hear just how worried she was. Then again this wasn’t easy, it would be a big change for her, not to mention she’d lose her job at Bright tech.

“You know, we have an open spot for another administrative worker,” Azrael mentioned, tracing the white of the marble plate.

“Would you really hire me?” She asked, sounding quite surprised.

“You’re more family than Deacon is, of course, we’d hire you,” Azrael answered, looking over at Samaira who nodded in agreement. Though she wasn’t his technically right-hand man he still always consulted big decisions with her, and she appreciated it even if it wasn’t needed.

“That relieves me,” She sighed. “Thank you so much, I’ll stay in touch and keep you two updated,” She sounded quite cheerful like her mood had been lifted up by this good news.

~~~

Within eight weeks Lara and Deacon got divorced, the woman went ahead and started working for Angel Tech meanwhile Deacon was really struggling with his company. The news came out about the divorce and of course, people were curious about what happened, and Lara didn’t hold back on telling the truth which resulted in the stocks going down tremendously.

Lara did well within the company. Hailey on the other hand, her reputation was ruined. Lara hadn’t mentioned a name however the public caught those two together during the divorce, so they put that together themselves. In the end, Lara wasn’t alone though, she met Paisley who also started working with Angel Tech and the two became friends easily even moved in together as Paisley was looking for a roommate.

Deacon got into business with Cedric and well, Azrael really dodged a bullet not going in business with Cedric. It was safe to say a lot of poor deals had been made and Vincent had long pulled out leaving everything to Deacon and the other shareholders.

~~~

Azrael’s POV:

Today was the day. I had everything planned out, it took me weeks to plan and at first, I felt confident as hell. Now my heart was racing at just the thought of it, I was almost considering canceling everything, but I knew that would be suspicious and if I couldn’t do it now when would I even get to it then?

Surely I picked the right place, right? We confessed our love here after all. I sighed and looked at myself in the bathroom mirror. I made sure to take Samaira out for dinner firstly, everything went well and of course, she had no idea what might be happening. I reached for my pocket, pulling out the velvet box, and admired the ring inside. The light above me made the princess cut diamond reflect, I smiled and gained my confidence again. I tucked the box away and fixed my hair then exited the bathroom.

“Ready to go?” Samaira wondered, looking at me with those beautiful molten chocolate eyes.

“Of course, come on,” I smiled briefly.

I placed the money into the tab book and took Samaira’s hand and walked out of the restaurant. I admired how beautiful she was, half her hair was up in a bun whilst the rest flowed down in perfect brown curls. Her lips were still a shade of faded red after dinner, her eyeliner and mascara were still going strong. Her shoulders were barely covered by the thin straps of the dress she wore. Man, I loved how that dress fitted her not to forget the cut-outs by her waist. I watched as the wind made the skirt of her dress waver. The slit on her left thigh was not as covered as it was before.

“Where are we headed?” She wondered, looking at me with her brow in an arch. Always so inquisitive.

“Hush babe, one last surprise for the night but I need you to trust me,” I mentioned, pulling out a blindfold from my pocket. She sighed looking at me then smiled at me and said, “Always.”

Hearing those words come from her gave me a sort of satisfaction I never knew I craved.

“Perfect,” I smiled and walked behind her. “Please take off your heels,” I advised and held her hand for balance as she took off her heels.

I put on the blindfold for her and began to lead the way faster. I left our shoes by the stone and walked over the sand, feeling its warmth between our toes. I led the path that had little red lanterns on either side leading to the middle where we'd stand on a white piece of cloth. The view upfront had the words “Will you marry me?” lit up. There were a lot of flowers scattered around along with little lanterns. It took me quite a bit to plan, but I knew it had to be this place. We realized we loved each other when we came to this island and what better place to propose?

Near the right, there was a cabana set up for us with all her favorite desserts to celebrate. Would the answer be no this would be very sad?

“We stopped walking?” She noticed and rubbed her hands together, they were probably sweaty, they always were when she was nervous.

“Mhm, remove your blindfold in ten seconds ok,” I ordered and listened to the ocean waves slamming calmly against the shore.

“Uh ok,” she said softly.

I took a deep breath, the night breeze calming my nerves as I got down on one knee next to her, the velvet box in my hand and open, exposing the ring to her. Samaira counted down the ten seconds and removed her blindfold, her eyes exposed to the lit-up words, and frowned and gasped at the same time. She immediately turned to her right, looking down at me, her hands over her mouth as she saw the ring.

“So? Will you become my Mrs?” I asked, gulping and looking at her nervously, my heart was so close to just jumping out!

“Azrael- I- wow,” She was stunned, unable to form a sentence which made me even more nervous. “Wow?” I frowned, trying not to get emotional. “Is wow a good thing?” I wondered.

“Yes! I’ll marry you, oh my god, you’re not joking are you?” Samaira asked, her voice a bit shaky as was the hand she held out to me.

“Of course not, fuck, I’m so happy,” I spoke quickly, sliding the ring on her finger, and got up. “Shit, I love you so fucking much,” I wrapped my arms around her and leaned down to kiss her, her soft hands on the sides of my face as she caressed my skin and kissed me back with just as much passion.

Samaira’s POV:

I had no idea when he’d propose and though I did think about it secretly I never imagined it would be this amazing, this joy it brought me was barely half of what I thought I’d be feeling. I haven’t been in many serious relationships, but I just knew what we had was going to last. I’ve never loved anyone as much as my mother, but Azrael changed that the day he re-entered my life. I had the perfect job, perfect man, and perfect ring. There was nothing more I could’ve asked for in my life.