News of the engagement spread faster than either Selina or Lucian had anticipated.
Fortunately, it wasn't because of the media.
It was because of Rowan.
Monday morning.
Selina walked into the executive boardroom to find a bouquet of white lilies sitting neatly in the center of her desk.
There was no card.
Only a small envelope.
She opened it.
Inside was a single handwritten sentence.
Congratulations. I won the bet. — Rowan
Selina sighed.
A moment later, Lucian entered the room carrying his laptop.
He noticed the flowers.
"…He started early."
"He left a note."
Lucian read it.
"I owe him dinner."
"You made a bet too?"
"I was unaware there were bets."
She folded her arms.
"So you admit you lost."
"I appear to have."
Before either of them could continue, Rowan burst into the room.
"Good morning to my favorite engaged couple!"
Selina looked at him.
"How many people have you told?"
"I've been very restrained."
"Rowan."
"…Almost everyone."
Lucian closed his eyes.
"I knew it."
Over the following weeks, congratulatory messages arrived from every direction.
Business partners.
University presidents.
Scholarship recipients.
Former employees of both companies.
Even Eleanor from Ashbourne sent a handwritten letter.
The past gave our families many reasons to grieve. I am grateful that the future has finally given them a reason to celebrate. May your home always be filled with more laughter than secrets.
Selina carefully placed the letter inside the same archival box that held Elias's final message.
Some words deserved to be preserved.
One Saturday afternoon, both families gathered at Vale Manor.
Not for a formal engagement celebration.
For lunch.
Exactly as Selina had requested.
No ballroom.
No elaborate decorations.
Just family.
The dining room was filled with conversation.
Thomas directed the staff with practiced ease.
Livia was discussing travel plans with Elara.
Rowan was enthusiastically explaining why he deserved to organize the bachelor party.
"No."
Lucian didn't even look up from his plate.
"You haven't heard my ideas."
"I don't need to."
"They're excellent."
Damian took a sip of tea.
"They're almost certainly not."
Rowan looked offended.
"No one has any faith in me."
"We know you too well," Selina replied.
The table erupted into laughter.
After lunch, everyone wandered into the gardens.
Winter had begun to fade, leaving behind the first signs of spring.
Tiny flowers pushed through the soil beneath the old oak trees.
Selina walked slowly beside Damian.
Neither spoke for a while.
Finally, Damian broke the silence.
"Have you decided?"
"About what?"
"The wedding."
She smiled.
"Not completely."
"I know what I don't want."
He nodded.
"A spectacle."
"Exactly."
She looked around the gardens.
"I don't want newspapers."
"I don't want politicians."
"I don't want a thousand guests who barely know us."
Damian looked at his daughter.
"What do you want?"
She answered without hesitation.
"The people who stayed."
The words lingered between them.
Not the people who appeared once success arrived.
Not the people who wanted photographs.
The people who had stood beside them through every difficult chapter.
Damian smiled.
"I think your mother would have chosen the same."
That evening, Selina and Lucian returned to the Innovation Campus.
Students filled the library despite it being the weekend.
Some studied quietly.
Others gathered in discussion rooms.
A professor was giving an impromptu lecture beneath one of the maple trees.
Life had already claimed the campus as its own.
Exactly as they had hoped.
They walked toward the memorial garden.
The benches were occupied by students reading books.
One little girl, perhaps six years old, was trying to count the fish swimming in the reflecting pool while her father watched patiently nearby.
Neither of them recognized Selina or Lucian.
They simply smiled politely as they passed.
Selina watched the child for a moment.
"Do you know what my favorite part is?"
Lucian looked toward the family.
"They have no idea who we are."
She nodded.
"They only know this is a place where they feel welcome."
"I think that's enough."
"No."
She smiled.
"I think that's everything."
As twilight settled over the campus, they sat together beneath the largest maple tree.
Selina rested her head lightly against Lucian's shoulder.
"We still haven't decided where we're getting married."
He nodded.
"We haven't."
"What if…"
She looked around the quiet garden.
"…we were married here?"
Lucian followed her gaze.
The memorial garden.
The place built to honor the past while looking toward the future.
Students walking nearby.
Children laughing in the distance.
Life surrounding them.
Not hidden away inside an exclusive estate.
Open.
Peaceful.
Hopeful.
A slow smile appeared on his face.
"I can't think of a better place."
She looked up at him.
"Really?"
"This campus exists because we chose each other."
He gently intertwined his fingers with hers.
"It seems fitting that our marriage begins here too."
A soft breeze stirred the new spring leaves above them.
The inscription at the entrance to the garden caught the last rays of sunlight.
The future is built by those who choose it.
Selina smiled.
"Then it's decided."
"No grand cathedral."
"No royal ballroom."
"No extravagant destination."
Just a garden.
Their families.
Their closest friends.
And the place that represented everything they had fought to build together.
For the first time since becoming engaged, the wedding no longer felt like another event to organize.
It felt like the natural beginning of the next chapter of their lives.
And somehow…
That made it perfect.