Chapter 14 - THE PROPOSAL IN PRIVATE ROOM SEVEN
Roman proposed at Bellaforte.
Private room seven.
The same room where Nora had corrected his twelve-million-dollar mistake.
She arrived expecting dinner.
Instead, she found candles.
Flowers.
And Roman standing beside the table.
Nora stopped.
“What's going on?”
He smiled.
“Dinner.”
She looked around.
“Very subtle.”
Roman laughed softly.
“I tried.”
They ate.
Talked.
Remembered the night they'd met.
Then Roman placed a folded sheet of paper on the table.
Nora recognized it immediately.
Her original diagram.
Three boxes.
Several lines.
A handwritten explanation.
She stared.
“You kept it?”
Roman nodded.
“Of course.”
She laughed.
“Why?”
He smiled.
“Because it was the first time someone told me I was wrong and didn't seem remotely interested in whether I liked hearing it.”
Nora smiled through tears.
Roman stood.
Then knelt beside her chair.
Her breath caught.
He opened a small velvet box.
Inside was a simple diamond ring.
“Eleanor Grace,” he said, “you walked into my life carrying a tray and told me the truth.”
His voice trembled.
“You made me question things I'd accepted for years.”
“You reminded me that intelligence doesn't come with a title.”
“And you showed me that courage can survive even the worst fear.”
Nora covered her mouth.
Roman smiled.
“I love you.”
He took a breath.
“Will you marry me?”
Nora nodded.
“Yes.”
Roman laughed.
“Really?”
She nodded again.
“Yes, Roman.”
He slipped the ring onto her finger.
Then kissed her.
May you like
Outside, Chicago glittered beneath the night sky.
Inside, the woman who had once been invisible was finally seen.
