“How do you like your surprise?”he murmurs, just loud enough for me to hear over the music and the crowd.
I stare at him, at the ring box, at the hundreds of people gathered in this magical clearing to watch whatever is about to happen.I lean forward slightly, whispering so only he can hear.“A proposal, Alexander?Seriously?”My voice drops even lower.“I’m not going to marry you right now.”
His smile is slow, devastating.“Maybe not right now.”His voice is a low murmur.“But someday you will wear my ring.”
I feel my face turn hot.I should have known Alexander wouldn’t do anything half-assed.When he told me he had a surprise for me, I should have asked him what it was.This is my fault.But I’m not even mad.How can I be?I know what this is.I know what he’s doing.
Amber wanted to humiliate me by having Chase propose publicly, by making me watch while everyone in town witnessed my supposed heartbreak.So Alexander is proposing first, in a gesture so grand and so public that anything Chase does will look pathetic by comparison.It’s protective and possessive and absolutely ridiculous.And my heart just falls at his feet.
Alexander drops to one knee, and the crowd collectively gasps.The music swells.Somewhere in the distance, I hear my mother sob.He opens the ring box, revealing a ring that makes my breath catch.It’s emerald, surrounded by diamonds in a platinum setting.Simple but stunning, exactly what I would have chosen for myself if I ever thought about such things.
“Olivia Hartley,” he says, his voice carrying across the clearing, “will you marry me?”
I lean down slightly, my voice soft enough that only he can hear.“I know this isn’t real.”
His smile is slow, devastating.“We started that way, too, didn't we?”
The words settle over me like snow.Our relationship started as fake, a convenient arrangement to get through the holidays.But it wasn’t fake for him.He’s wanted me for six years.Waited for me.Plotted and planned to make me his.
A flicker of doubt fills me.My eyes narrow slightly as I study his face.My heart skips, then races.The fake relationship became real.So this proposal...
“Are you serious?”I whisper, searching his face.
“It’s whatever you wish it to be, Olivia.”His eyes never leave mine.“But your finger won’t be empty for long.That much I can promise you.”
My heart is pounding so hard I can feel it in my throat, in my fingertips, in every nerve ending.This man—this wonderful man—is offering me everything.Not just the ring, not just the proposal.He’s offering me a choice.Agency.The power to decide what this means.
And in this moment, watching him kneel in a clearing he created just for me, surrounded by lights and music and magic, I realize something that terrifies and thrills me in equal measure.I’m not just falling for Alexander Castellano anymore.I’ve already fallen.Completely.Irrevocably.Hopelessly.
“I want a long engagement,” I hear myself say slowly.“A year.”
His smile is absolutely dazzling, more radiant than anything I’ve ever seen.His eyes shine with something that looks like pure joy.“As you wish.”
I hold out my hand, my fingers trembling slightly.“Then, yes.”The word comes out clear and strong, loud enough for everyone to hear.But my eyes are only on Alexander, and he’s all I see, all I hear, all that matters.
He slides the ring onto my finger—a perfect fit, of course—and then he’s standing, pulling me into his arms and lifting me off my feet as his mouth finds mine.The kiss is deep and possessive and so full of promise that I forget we have an audience.I forget about Amber and Chase and everyone watching.All I know is Alexander’s hands on my waist, his mouth on mine, and the absolute certainty settling in my chest that this is right.This is real.This is everything.
When he finally sets me down, I’m breathless and dizzy and happier than I’ve ever been in my entire life.I hear my mother crying—full-on sobbing now.I hear applause and cheers from the crowd.
But as Alexander’s arms tighten around me, as he kisses my forehead and whispers something against my hair I don’t quite catch yet feel in every cell of my body, I know I’ve never been happier.Not when I got my job in New York.Not when I won Holly Queen my senior year.Not in any of the carefully controlled, perfectly planned moments of my life.
This—right here, in this enchanted clearing in the woods with this man who somehow sees me better than I see myself—this is happiness.And I’m done fighting it.
I tilt my face up, finding his mouth again, and kiss him like we’re the only two people in the world.
Because right now, in this moment, we are.Everything else can wait.
The cold bites at my face the moment I step outside, but I welcome it.I need it.
The Hartley house is still vibrant with celebration behind me—voices layered over laughter, music drifting through windows glowing warm and golden against the night.Some of their neighbors showed up an hour ago with bottles of champagne and casserole dishes; apparently that’s what people do in Silverbell Hollow when they hear good news.Mom and Dad are inside with Bob and Carol, and someone keeps refilling my glass the moment it’s empty, clapping me on the back like I’ve just won the lottery.
Which, in a way, I have.
From inside, I hear Bob’s voice boom out, “To new family!”and my father’s accompanying cheer, louder and more unrestrained than I’ve heard in years.A chuckle escapes me as I settle onto the porch steps.Do the Hartleys just bring this out in people?I’ve never seen Dad like this—so open, so genuinely happy.
Snow falls in fat, lazy flakes, drifting through the glow of Christmas lights that wrap every tree, every post, every inch of railing Bob could reach.The wooden reindeer near the mailbox, swaying slightly in the breeze.Plastic candy canes line the walkway, half-buried in snow.Reindeer figures dot the yard, some lit from within, others just dark shapes dusted white.And on the roof, the colored lights casting reflections in the windows opposite, the massive light-up reindeer display.The whole property looks like Christmas exploded in the best possible way.
My hand trembles when I pull it from my pocket to run it through my hair.This is real.She said yes.The ring on her finger isn’t for show.I let out a long breath, watching it crystallize in the December air.
