Chase clears his throat.“You can come with us.”
I can feel my temper starting to simmer.“Thanks, but Alexander’s meeting me here.”
“Then where is he?”Amber taunts.“Because I can’t see him anywhere.”
Something snaps inside me.“Don’t you get tired of spouting out the same crap over and over again, Amber?What is it?Do you practice your lines in front of the mirror?Because at this point you just sound like some desperate cartoon villain, and it’s embarrassing.”
Amber’s face flushes an angry red.“A man like him will throw you away as soon as he finds someone better.He’s a billionaire, Olivia.He can have any woman he wants.Why would he want a girl like you?You’re just a time pass for him.”
Before I can respond, Sophie appears like a guardian angel, slightly out of breath and grinning.
“Olivia!There you are!”She grabs my arm, then looks at Amber and Chase with undisguised disdain.“Oh, it’s you two.Olivia, why’re you hanging out with these two losers?Come on!Alexander’s waiting!”She looks over her shoulder and sneers.“You’ve got something in your teeth, Amber.”Sophie tugs me away before Amber can respond.
I let Sophie drag me through the crowd, biting back a laugh.“That was harsh.”
“She deserved it.”Sophie’s eyes are bright with mischief.“Besides, you should see what Alexander has planned.It’s going to make Amber’s entire existence look pathetic.”
My stomach flips.“What do you mean?Sophie, what’s happening?”
But she just grins and pulls me faster, weaving through clusters of families and couples.We pass the carousel and the food trucks and the hot chocolate stand, heading away from the main festival grounds.
“Sophie, where are we going?”
“You’ll see.”
We reach the edge of town, where Main Street gives way to the forest that surrounds Silverbell Hollow.There’s a path I’ve never noticed before, marked by a simple wooden archway covered in evergreen boughs and silver bells.
And people are following it.I see neighbors, families, groups of teenagers, all walking down the path with expressions of wonder and excitement.The path itself is illuminated—not with regular lampposts, but with something ethereal.Arches of fairy lights span overhead, creating a tunnel of twinkling stars.And on the ground, something glows with an otherworldly blue light, like bioluminescent algae from those beaches in tropical paradises.
“What is this?”I breathe.
Sophie just grins wider.“Keep walking.”
The forest has been transformed into something from a fairy tale.The trees are wrapped in lights, their branches hung with crystal ornaments that catch and refract the glow from the path.More arches span overhead, some made of twisted branches covered in white lights, others of sheer fabric that billows in the gentle breeze.The blue glow on the ground pulses softly, like the forest itself is breathing.Music drifts through the trees—something instrumental and beautiful, violins and piano creating a melody that makes my chest ache.
People walk ahead of me and behind me, all of us following this enchanted path deeper into the woods.I hear gasps and murmurs of awe, see children pointing at the lights with wide eyes.
“Sophie,” I say again, my voice barely above a whisper.“What is this?”
“Alexander wanted to make sure no one forgot this night,” she says simply.“Including you.”
The path winds through the trees for what feels like forever but can’t be more than a few minutes.Then it opens into a clearing, and I stop breathing.
The clearing is massive, easily big enough to hold a hundred people.The ground is covered in something white and soft—not snow, but fabric or petals, something that glows gently in the light from above.Because overhead, suspended between the trees, is a canopy of lights.Not just white lights, but every color—silver and gold and emerald and sapphire, all woven together in patterns that look like galaxies and constellations.
Garlands of evergreen and white roses are draped between the trees, creating natural walls around the space.More crystal ornaments hang from branches, spinning slowly and catching the light.In the center of the clearing stands a gazebo made entirely of twisted branches and covered in tiny white lights, with sheer white curtains tied back with silver ribbons.
And in the center of that gazebo, wearing a charcoal suit with a black wool overcoat and a silver tie, stands Alexander.
I hear Amber gasp from somewhere behind me.
My legs move on autopilot, carrying me across the glowing ground toward him.The crowd parts to let me through, and I see them—my parents standing near the edge of the clearing, Mom with tears already streaming down her face, Dad’s arm around her shoulders.And beside them, Victoria and Jacob Castellano, both watching with looks of anticipation.
Sophie gives me a little shove forward, but all I can see is Alexander.His gray eyes lock on mine, intense and focused, and there’s something in his expression I’ve never seen before.Something vulnerable beneath all that control.
When I reach the gazebo, I see the ring box in his hand.
My heart stops.
