"Third," she met my eyes. "About the wedding..."
"Yes?"
"I accept," she said. "Kholod, I'm willing to marry you again."
I froze, hardly daring to believe what I'd heard.
"You... what did you say?"
"I said I will marry you," she repeated. "Kholod, I'm willing to give you another chance."
"Noelle!" I started to rise excitedly, but she gently pressed me back down.
"Don't move!" she said. "Your injuries aren't completely healed yet."
"But..."
"Let me finish first." Her tone was measured. "Kholod, I'm willing to remarry you for Leo's sake, but that doesn't mean I've forgiven you. Those wounds and that pain—I still need time to process everything."
She paused before continuing. "We'll... take things slowly. Start from the beginning."
"Yes," I gripped her hand tightly. "Noelle, thank you... thank you for giving me a chance..."
"Don't celebrate too early," she warned. "Kholod, if you ever make the same mistakes again, I'll leave immediately—and this time, you'll never find me."
"I won't," I vowed solemnly. "Noelle, I swear I'll never hurt you again."
She looked at me, uncertainty still lingering in her eyes, but finally—slowly and resolutely—she squeezed my hand in return.
In that moment, I felt like I possessed the entire world.
Chapter Forty-Three
Noelle
"Ma'am, here's the revised guest list."
Dmitri placed a file on the coffee table. I sat beside Kholod, flipping through it. The pages were packed with the most powerful names from Philadelphia and the entire East Coast.
"Isn't this too many people?" I frowned slightly.
"This is the trimmed version," Kholod explained gently. "Noelle, you're the lady of the Morozov family. This wedding isn't just about family honor—it's our fresh start. It has to be grand enough."
"But..."
"I want everyone to see," he looked at me with determination, "that you're the only wife I treasure."
I sighed softly and continued reading through the list. Ever since I'd agreed to come back with him, he'd been announcing to everyone that I was his wife.
"Boss, there's something else to report."
"Go ahead."
"About that night's attack—it was Kieran with his remaining forces who planned it."
"Kieran?" I looked up in surprise.
"Yes." Dmitri nodded. "Boss should have mentioned Isabella's situation to you. After that incident, we've been hunting him down, but he managed to slip away and hide. This attack was his revenge."
