Chapter 26 - The ProposalThey didn't rush. Unlike Ethan, who had used a proposal as a calculated business merger, Marcus and Emma spent a year quietly building a foundation of genuine romance. They traveled, they laughed, and they built their empire side by side, as equals.

On a crisp October afternoon, exactly four years after the day Emma had walked out of the Harborview Hotel, Marcus took her to a secluded botanical garden in the Berkshires.
Underneath an archway of blooming white garden roses—the exact flowers Emma had once chosen for a wedding that never happened—Marcus stopped walking.
He didn't give a grandiose speech to an audience. There were no cameras, no high-society onlookers, and no pretense. Just the two of them, surrounded by nature and silence.
Marcus got down on one knee, pulling a simple, flawless diamond ring from his pocket.
"You built an empire, Emma. But more importantly, you built a home for everyone around you," Marcus said, his voice thick with emotion. "I would be honored to spend the rest of my life standing beside you. Will you marry me?"
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Emma looked at the man who had helped her reclaim her life. Tears of absolute joy spilled over her eyelashes as she nodded.
"Yes," she whispered, pulling him up into a fierce, loving embrace. "Yes, Marcus."