Chapter 9 - HEALING THE BROKEN
By spring, the snow in Manhattan had melted, giving way to bright green shoots and warm sunshine.
The brownstone on 11th Street had become a place of pure joy. The backyard was now complete with a fully built wooden treehouse featuring a red slide, a pirate flag fluttering in the breeze, and a small flower patch where Maya’s tulips had bloomed into brilliant shades of yellow and pink.
The press had eventually lost interest in the scandal, moving on to newer corporate drama, leaving the Chen-Ashton family in blessed, tranquil peace.
Sebastian had officially restructured Ashton Global. He resigned as CEO, taking the role of Chairman of the Board, which allowed him to work three days a week from a sunlit home office on the top floor of the brownstone.
He was no longer the absent billionaire.
He was the man who made blueberry pancakes every Tuesday morning—even if his first three attempts burned to a crisp and made the smoke detectors go off, setting Eli into fits of hysterical laughter.
He was the man who sat on the small chairs at the local Montessori school during Parent-Teacher Day, listening intently to the teacher explain Jasper’s incredible mathematical abilities.
He was the man who let Maya paint his fingernails pink before an emergency board conference call on Zoom—and refused to remove the polish when the vice-president asked about it.
One sunny afternoon in May, Sebastian was sitting at the wooden kitchen island, going over a series of legal documents.
Nadia walked in, holding a tray of fresh lemonade. She set it down beside him and looked over his shoulder.
"What are you working on so hard?" she asked, wrapping her arms around his neck from behind and resting her chin on his shoulder.
Sebastian reached up, placing his hand over hers. "I’m finalizing the adoption papers."
Nadia paused. "Adoption papers?"
"Paternity re-establishment and name change," Sebastian corrected softly, turning his head to look at her. "Eli, Jasper, and Maya Chen-Ashton. If... if you’re still okay with that."
Nadia felt a sweet warmth spread through her chest. "They’ve been calling you 'Daddy' for three weeks now, Sebastian. I think they’re more than okay with it."
Sebastian smiled, a deep, beautiful warmth filling his eyes.
He turned in his chair, pulling Nadia onto his lap. She laughed softly, wrapping her legs around his waist as she settled comfortably against him.
"There's one more document," Sebastian said softly, pulling a velvet box from his jacket pocket on the back of the chair.
Nadia’s heart stopped.
He opened the box. Inside sat a simple, breathtaking platinum ring featuring a clear, brilliant-cut emerald—the same green as the sweater she had worn the day he walked into the Olive Garden Bistro five years ago.
"Sebastian..." Nadia breathed, tears instantly springing to her eyes.
"Five years ago, I gave you a ring because it was expected of my social standing," Sebastian said, his voice thick with profound emotion. "I bought it from a catalog. I didn't know what love truly meant. I thought love was providing a lifestyle."
He took the ring from the box and held it between his fingers, looking into her eyes with an intensity that made the rest of the world vanish.
"I know what love is now," Sebastian whispered. "Love is sitting on a dusty rug fixing a plastic truck. Love is standing by you when the world falls apart. Love is waking up every morning just to hear you laugh in the kitchen."
He slid the ring gently onto her finger. It fit perfectly.
"Nadia Chen," Sebastian said, his voice trembling. "Will you marry me? Not for the press. Not for a corporate image. But because I cannot imagine spending a single second of the rest of my life without you."
Nadia looked down at the glittering emerald on her finger, then up at the man who had torn down his own empire just to prove his devotion to her.
"Yes," she sobbed happily, throwing her arms around his neck and pulling his mouth down to hers. "Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!"
From the doorway leading to the garden, three small heads poked in.
"Is Daddy crying again?" Eli whispered loudly to Jasper.
"He’s not crying," Jasper corrected with expert precision. "His eyes are just leaking because Mommy said yes."
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"Does this mean we get cake?" Maya asked, clapping her hands together.
Sebastian pulled back from the kiss, laughing through his tears as he reached out with one long arm and pulled all three children into a massive, warm family embrace on the kitchen floor.
