I was standing beside my architectural model at the Grand Aurelia gala when my ex pointed at my wedding ring and laughed loud enough for the entire ballroom to hear. “Where’s your husband, Elena? Did you invent him because nobody wanted to marry you?” I calmly tightened my fingers around the blueprint in my arms and said nothing. Then the glamorous woman beside him joined in, and I heard the crowd around us fall strangely quiet. My ex was still smiling when a man in black stepped out from directly behind him and spoke two words that changed every face in the room...

By midnight, the storm outside had settled into a quiet, steady drizzle over the estate at West Hill.

The Moretti estate sat on twenty acres of forested hills overlooking the glowing skyline of the city. The stone villa was quiet, its grand tall windows casting warm yellow light onto the wet marble patio outside.

Inside the private library, a fire crackled softly in the floor-to-ceiling brick hearth.

Elena sat on the leather sofa, barefoot, her dark hair freed from its pins and cascading over her shoulders. She held a glass of red wine in her hands, watching the flames dance over the birch logs.

Dante walked into the room, having discarded his suit jacket and tie. He wore a dark cashmere sweater with his sleeves pushed up to his elbows, two glasses of sparkling water on a silver tray.

He set the tray down on the coffee table and sat down beside her, leaning his arm along the back of the sofa.

"The board voted unanimously ten minutes ago," Dante said softly. "The mayor’s office officially confirmed it. Haven Point is yours."

Elena let out a long breath she felt like she’d been holding for eighteen months. She set her wine glass down and leaned her head against Dante’s shoulder, feeling the steady, reassuring warmth of his body.

"I still can't believe it," she murmured. "For a second... when I saw those numbers on Mara's tablet, I thought everything was over."

"I told you," Dante said, his fingers gently playing with the ends of her hair. "Nobody touches what belongs to me. Not Julian Mercer. Not the city council."

Elena turned her head to look up at him. "You had Leo in the server network before we even arrived at the gala, didn't you?"

Dante didn't deny it. "I knew Julian was desperate. His firm has been losing money for six quarters. When Marcus told me Julian had been meeting with Councilman Vale in secret last week, I knew he would try something dirty tonight."

"You saved my life's work, Dante."

"You saved it yourself," Dante countered quietly, looking deeply into her eyes. "You stood up in front of three hundred people and didn't flinch. You didn't need my name to win that contract, Elena. You won it because your design was brilliant."

Elena smiled, reaching up to touch his face, her thumb gently tracing the sharp line of his jaw. "I love you, Dante Moretti."

Dante leaned down, his lips meeting hers in a deep, lingering kiss that tasted of sweet wine and pure relief.

When he pulled back, his hand moved down to hers, his fingers interlocking with hers, their matching platinum rings glittering softly in the firelight.

"Now," Dante whispered against her cheek. "There's just one small problem left to solve."

Elena blinked, pulling back slightly. "What problem?"