Chapter 172: Trust Him
Jane's POV
A month later, David's injuries had completely healed. The gauntness that had shadowed his face was gone, replaced by the bright clarity I remembered from better days.
The afternoon sun was particularly generous, bathing every corner of the park in golden warmth.
The crystal-clear blue sky stretched endlessly without a single cloud, and the breeze carried the fresh scent of grass and wildflowers, making the willow branches along the path sway gently.
David and I walked hand in hand down the tree-lined avenue, our feet warm against the sun-heated stone pathway, his palm's steady heat flowing through our intertwined fingers—secure and reassuring.
Though I had to admit, over the past few weeks, David had seemed unusually busy and distant. The thought had been gnawing at me, creating a hollow ache in my chest that I tried desperately to ignore.
I squeezed his hand gently, hoping to mask the hurt in my voice. "You know, you've been awfully mysterious lately. All those phone calls, disappearing for hours..."
David glanced at me with an innocent expression that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Just work stuff. Nothing to worry about."
"Work stuff?" I raised an eyebrow, feeling a familiar pang of being shut out. "Since when do you whisper during work calls and hang up when I walk into the room?"
He laughed, but there was something nervous about it. "You're imagining things."
The tone stung more than I expected. My throat tightened as doubt crept in—was I losing him? Had I done something wrong?
"And when I asked Ava about it last week, she just smiled and changed the subject. You two aren't plotting something behind my back, are you?"
"Ava's always been weird," David said, avoiding my gaze. "You know how she is."
His evasiveness felt like a small betrayal. I bit my lip, swallowing the questions that threatened to spill out. Am I not important enough to be included? Are you growing tired of me? The insecurities I'd been battling for weeks surged forward, making my chest feel tight and my eyes burn with unshed tears.
Following the winding trail deeper into the park, we found ourselves at the lakeside without realizing it. The water sparkled with dancing light as a few white geese glided gracefully across the surface, leaving gentle ripples in their wake.
The cherry trees along the shore were in magnificent bloom, their pink and white petals caught by the breeze and floating down like snow, carpeting the ground beneath our feet in soft layers.
Dappled shadows moved slowly across us as we walked, accompanied by the sweet sound of birdsong, the gentle lapping of water, and distant children's laughter—everything so peaceful it filled my heart with warmth.
Yet underneath the beauty, I couldn't shake the feeling of being on the outside of David's life lately. I looked up at the golden sunlight filtering through the leaves, then down at the petals swirling around our feet, trying to push away my melancholy.
"What a perfect day," I murmured, though my voice came out smaller than intended. "Even the wind feels gentle."
David suddenly stopped and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind, resting his chin on my shoulder, his voice warm with amusement: "Walk a few more steps with me. I want to show you something."
"More mysterious behavior?" I teased, but the words carried a hint of the hurt I'd been carrying. "What are you up to now?"
"Just trust me," he murmured against my ear, and I could hear the smile in his voice.
Trust him. The words echoed in my mind as I let him guide me forward, even as part of me wondered if I was foolish to keep hoping he'd let me back into whatever had been occupying his thoughts.
As we rounded a cluster of dense shrubs, my breath caught—there, beneath the cherry blossoms, lay a soft cream-colored blanket with two champagne flutes and a bottle of champagne, fresh rose petals scattered artfully around them. In the distance, warm yellow fairy lights were strung across the grass, glowing softly in the afternoon sun.
"David..." I breathed, my heart suddenly racing as realization began to dawn. All those weeks of feeling forgotten, of wondering if I mattered—had it all been leading to this? "What is all this?"
"This," he said softly, turning me to face him, "is what I've been planning. This is why I've been so distracted, so secretive. I'm sorry if I made you feel left out—that was the last thing I wanted."
The relief that flooded through me was almost overwhelming. Before I could process what I was seeing, David cupped my face gently in his palms, his thumbs brushing tenderly across my cheekbones.
His eyes held a depth of love that took my breath away, and his smile was impossibly tender. The sunlight caught in his hair, creating a golden halo, and even his eyelashes seemed touched with warmth.
"David, you're scaring me," I whispered, though my heart was soaring and all those weeks of insecurity were melting away. "What's happening?"
Then he slowly let go of my face and dropped to one knee, pulling a velvet box from his pocket. As he opened it, a ring came into view—delicate sapphires surrounded by tiny diamonds that caught the light like captured starlight, brilliant and beautiful.
"Oh my God," I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth as tears sprang to my eyes—not from sadness this time, but from pure, overwhelming joy. "David, is this...? All this time, I thought... I thought you were pulling away from me."