Tristan\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u0b1d\u0b1b 68\u00a0<\/p>\n
The restaurant was beautiful inside, all warm lighting and soft music, and the host led us to a private table in the back corner that felt secluded from the rest of the dining room.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is nice,\u201d I said as we sat down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought we deserved a proper date,\u201d she said. \u201cAfter everything we\u2019ve been through, I wanted to do something special.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart swelled with love for her, for the fact that she\u2019d planned this, that she wanted to celebrate us being okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love it,\u201d I said, reaching across the table to take her hand. \u201cAnd I love you.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love you too,\u201d she said, squeezing my fingers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
We ordered food and wine for me, sparkling water for her, and spent the first part of dinner just talking and laughing, enjoying each other\u2019s company without any stress or worry.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t remember the last time I\u2019d felt this relaxed, this happy, this certain that everything was going to be okay.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Athena seemed almost nervous though, kept fidgeting with her napkin and glancing at her purse like she was working up the courage to do something.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou okay baby?\u201d I asked. \u201cYou seem anxious.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine,\u201d she said quickly. \u201cJust\u2026 excited.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Before I could ask what she meant, she reached into her purse and pulled out an envelope, holding it carefully like it contained something precious.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My heart started beating faster, anxiety creeping in even though I had no idea what was in that envelope.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s that?\u201d I asked, my voice coming out rougher than I intended.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cOpen it,\u201d she said, sliding it across the table to me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking slightly as I picked it up, and I noticed that she was watching me with an intensity that made my nervousness spike higher.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I opened the envelope carefully and pulled out what looked like an official document, some kind of certificate with fancy lettering at the top.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:34 Thu, Jan 29\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 357\u00a0<\/p>\n
My eyes scanned the words but my brain wasn\u2019t processing them, wasn\u2019t making sense of what I was seeing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Marriage Certificate.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words finally registered and my head snapped up to look at Athena, confusion and shock warring inside me.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2026 what is this?\u201d I managed to ask.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She was smiling now, a brilliant smile that lit up her whole face.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cRead it,\u201d she said softly. \u201cAll of it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I looked back down at the paper, my eyes finding the names printed on it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tristan Hayes and Athena Slade.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her signature was already there, elegant and official on the bride\u2019s line.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Mine was blank.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t understand,\u201d I said, looking back up at her.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI pulled some strings,\u201d she said. \u201cCalled in a few favors, got us a special license. I\u2019ve already signed it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
She reached across the table and took my hands in hers.\u00a0<\/p>\n
68\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know we were already planning a big wedding,\u201d she continued. \u201cAnd we\u2019re still going to have that, still going to have the ceremony with all our family and friends. But I wanted this too. I wanted us to be legally married now. I wanted you to know that I\u2019m all in, that I\u2019m\u00a0<\/p>\n
committed to you completely.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was still trying to process what she was saying, my brain struggling to catch up with reality.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter our fight,\u201d she went on, \u201cafter I threatened to end things between us, I realized how much that must have scared you. And I\u00a0<\/p>\n
wanted to show you that I meant what I said, that I was never going to leave you, that you\u2019re stuck with me forever.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her eyes were shining with tears now.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll it needs is your signature, Tristan. Sign it, and I\u2019m your wife.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
The words hit me like a physical blow and suddenly I couldn\u2019t breathe, couldn\u2019t think, couldn\u2019t do anything except stare at her in absolute shock and awe.\u00a0<\/p>\n
2\/3\u00a0<\/p>\n
18:34 Thu, Jan 29\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
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 357 Tristan\u00a0 \u0b1d\u0b1b 68\u00a0 The restaurant was beautiful inside, all warm lighting […]<\/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":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26514","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26514","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=26514"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26514\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26514"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26514"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26514"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}