hapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
Helen studied her future daughter\u2013in\u2013law, liking her more and more the longer she looked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She thought to herself, no wonder that brat of a son has liked this girl for so many years, even telling the world he was ugly just to avoid getting married.\u00a0<\/p>\n
God knows how much her son cherished his face; he used to hate it if anyone said a single word about him not being good\u2013looking.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Deegan Bronner watched his wife, who looked like she was about to eat Nina up, and couldn\u2019t help but shake his head with a smile.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHelen, let\u2019s go for a walk. Let\u2019s leave the kids to themselves.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Helen reluctantly let go of Nina\u2019s hand. \u201cNina, I\u2019ll call Zackery in to keep you company.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina smiled and nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She really liked Zackery and his family; they were very warm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t that she had never been to The Bronner Estate when she was with Sean, but his family thought her back- ground wasn\u2019t good enough and shut the door on her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Later, to keep her from being wronged, Sean bought an apartment and never took her to The Bronner Estate again.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thinking of the past, Nina was a little dazed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Collins?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina saw Zackery leaning against the doorway, looking at her lazily. A few strands of his dark hair fell forward with the movement, casting a flickering shadow on his defined collarbone.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In that moment, Nina heard her own heart skip a beat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She heard Zackery say to her, \u201cMs. Collins, may I invite you to take a walk outside with me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina nodded.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The two of them walked side by side in the courtyard. The Bronner Estate was huge, a villa situated halfway up a mountain.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They walked side by side, and it was quiet all around, so quiet they could hear each other\u2019s heartbeats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
4\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina lost her focus for a moment and tripped on a pebble. Zackery quickly pulled her into his arms, a tense look on\u00a0<\/p>\n
his face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
0.0%\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:56\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 17\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you okay?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m\u2026 I\u2019m fine.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s broad chest was warm, carrying a unique scent of hormones that made Nina a little dizzy.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She quickly pulled away from Zackery\u2019s embrace, her head lowered and her face slightly flushed.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina didn\u2019t look up, not knowing that Zackery\u2019s face was even redder than hers at that moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Collins, can I\u2026 call you Nina?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina was a little surprised, but she still didn\u2019t look up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, you can.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
As soon as she said that, it was as if flowers bloomed in Zackery\u2019s eyes, full of the vibrancy of spring.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cNina, are you willing to marry me now?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Was she willing?\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina hadn\u2019t really thought about this question.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
At first, she had only agreed to the arranged marriage because she wanted to get away from Sean, and that was still true later on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She had thought, if I marry this man, the worst that can happen is we get a divorce later.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But now she didn\u2019t think that way at all. The Bronner family respected her, and that included Zackery.\u00a0<\/p>\n
From the first moment Zackery saw her, he had never called her by her full name, always addressing her as Ms. Collins.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nina could tell from his words and expressions that he was a very decent person.\u00a0<\/p>\n
At least better than Sean.\u00a0<\/p>\n
If it was a marriage like this, she thought she was willing to give it a try.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Besides, Zackery had just asked her if she was willing to marry him now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That showed Zackery really respected her wishes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
This was one of the few times in Nina\u2019s life that she had been shown respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She raised her head and looked at Zackery seriously.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAre you willing to always respect me?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery was stunned for a moment, then quickly replied, \u201cOf course.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Getting a satisfactory answer, Nina smiled, her eyes curving like a crescent moon.\u00a0<\/p>\n
45.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n
22:56\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 77\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery felt as if he could hear his own heartbeat.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thump, thump, thump.\u00a0<\/p>\n
288 Vouchers\u00a0<\/p>\n
The next moment, he heard the girl he loved say, \u201cZackery, I\u2019ll marry you. But if you don\u2019t treat me well in the future, I\u2019ll leave you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Zackery immediately pulled Nina into a tight hug, his hands trembling.\u00a0<\/p>\n
They could hear each other\u2019s heartbeats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Overwhelming joy washed over Zackery, and he couldn\u2019t wait to tell the whole world he was getting married.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThank you, Nina.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
88.6 %\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sara Lili is a daring romance writer who turns icy landscapes into scenes of fiery passion. She loves crafting hot love stories while embracing the chill of Iceland\u2019s breathtaking cold.<\/p>\n
Loomwood Galleries Framed Pilgrim Murals by Iris Vaughn 17 hapter 17\u00a0 Chapter 17\u00a0 288 Vouchers\u00a0 Helen studied her future daughter\u2013in\u2013law, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24306","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-girl-in-the-shadows-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24306"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24306\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24306"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24306"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}