Caroline Whitman pushed open the door, and the fresh scent of flowers washed over her.

Still confused, she reached into the darkness and fumbled for the light switch by the door.

The light came on.

An unfamiliar scene took Caroline Whitman completely by surprise.

The living room was covered in flower petals, with a giant heart made of pink roses arranged in the center.

Caroline Whitman froze.

She walked forward in disbelief and stopped in front of the giant heart, only to realize it wasn’t made of pink roses at all. It was made from stacks of hundred-dollar bills.

‘Well, I’ll be damned,’ Caroline Whitman thought. ‘I’ll be damned.’

She’d seen similar proposal setups in social media videos, and now, for the first time in her life, she was experiencing one herself.

The walls were decorated too, with balloons, ribbons, and light-up letters—the classic at-home proposal setup.

‘It’s hard to believe Adrian Grant could plan this kind of “surprise.”‘

Just as Caroline Whitman was about to take out her phone to capture the moment, a firework suddenly exploded outside the window.

BOOM! A shower of golden light spread across the night sky, followed by a second firework, and then a third. The entire floor-to-ceiling window flickered with their light.

Caroline Whitman tore her gaze from the window and found Adrian Grant already kneeling on one knee in front of her.

Somehow, a ring box had appeared in his hand. The lid was open, and the diamond inside glittered, catching the flickering light of the fireworks.

The fireworks were still going off.

The light played across Adrian Grant’s face. When a firework lit up the sky, she could clearly see his sharp features and defined jawline. When the light faded, most of his face fell into shadow, leaving only an outline.

“Caroline Whitman.”

He used her full name.

But what he said next was something the Adrian Grant she’d first met wouldn’t have said even on his deathbed.

“I was originally going to wait until after Ryan’s birthday to show you this ring. But since you found it, I don’t see any reason to wait. I don’t want to leave things to chance. I’ve never liked uncertainty when it comes to things like this.”

Adrian Grant paused.

“It’s almost funny to think about. Back then, in my arrogance, I thought we just had an agreement. When the time was up, we’d go our separate ways with no strings attached. If you’d told me then that in a few months, I’d be kneeling here proposing to you, I probably would have had someone check to see if there was something wrong with your head.”

Hearing this, Caroline Whitman felt her eyes welling up, but she couldn’t stop the corner of her mouth from twitching.

‘That definitely sounded like something Adrian Grant would say.’

“For the past few years, all of my major decisions—from taking over the corporation to returning to the country, from agreeing to raise our child with you—were the result of careful deliberation. But pursuing you, wanting to be with you, and wanting to marry you… those things were different. They were decisions made by my heart.”

Adrian’s voice faltered for a moment, and as if recalling something, he let out a soft chuckle. “You know, our paths only crossed because of Ryan. But I’m glad we didn’t rush into a marriage of convenience for his sake back then. If we had, I’m afraid you’d think my feelings for you now weren’t genuine. You wouldn’t be able to tell if I was saying this out of habit, or a sense of responsibility, or something else entirely.”

“To be honest, though, when I first drafted that backup marriage agreement, it was in preparation for our child’s existence becoming public. The logic was simple: if he was ever exposed, getting married would be the most stable solution.

But that changed.

I shelved that plan. Not because the risks became unmanageable, but because I realized I didn’t want our relationship to start that way.

I didn’t want you to look back one day and think that I married you because I was forced to take responsibility for our son. That’s not it. This isn’t about him. I want to marry you for me.

When did things change? Or rather, when did my feelings for you start to change?

To be honest, I can’t quite pinpoint it myself.

Maybe it was that business trip. You didn’t send me a single message, and I found myself waiting for one.

Maybe it was when we ran into each other and you acted like you didn’t see me.

Maybe it was when we were watching a movie and you fell asleep, and I pulled you into my arms. Logically, I could have just carried you to your room, or even just let you sleep comfortably on the couch, but I didn’t want to.

Maybe it was the time you sprained your ankle… or maybe it was even earlier…”

The warm, fuzzy feeling Caroline was experiencing suddenly hit the pause button.

‘Hey, wait a minute,’ she thought. ‘Does an embarrassing moment like spraining my ankle really count?’

‘You’d better not bring up the time you saw me doing arts and crafts…’

Adrian Grant didn’t notice the subtle shift in her expression and continued speaking.

“I used to be the kind of person who breaks everything down into steps. Step one, step two… I would calculate every move before I made it. But when it came to you, all the steps went out the window. First, our son appeared out of nowhere and threw all my plans into chaos. And then there was you. You didn’t even have to do anything. You just stood there, and you completely demolished whatever steps I had left.”

“Caroline Whitman.”

He said her name again.

“I am certain of my feelings for you. I’m not doing this because of our son, or because my family is pressuring me to get married, or because of any other external factor. I want to marry you. I want you to be the first person I see when I wake up and the last person I speak to before I fall asleep.”

“I know that I love you.”

“So—”

“Caroline Whitman, will you marry me?”

Adrian Grant’s voice was deep and steady, each word hanging in the air.

The fireworks boomed outside, filling the air with noise, but she heard every single one of his words, clear as day.

Before she had gotten together with Adrian Grant, Caroline Whitman never imagined that one day this man would be on one knee, proposing to her.

She never imagined that two people who had started as strangers would become so deeply intertwined.

When she’d found the ring he had prepared last night, she had secretly imagined countless proposal scenarios.

Maybe it would be one morning, the moment she opened her eyes, when he’d suddenly present the ring.

Maybe during an evening walk, when she was least expecting it.

Or maybe after dinner, as they were relaxing and chatting, he would suddenly pop the question.

After work tonight, she had wondered if he had already set everything up at home, a surprise waiting for her.

Apparently, she had been wrong, and yet, also right.

She thought that when the day finally came, she’d be able to keep her cool.

Caroline Whitman snapped out of the shock of Adrian’s profound confession and looked at him seriously.

She lifted her right hand, noticing that it was trembling slightly.

There were so many things she wanted to say, but the two words she wanted to say most were:

“I do.”

After she said them, she realized her own voice was trembling, and her eyes were glistening with tears.

Adrian Grant looked up at her. The usual coldness and distance behind his glasses were gone, replaced by pure, unadulterated tenderness.

He reached out and took her delicate hand in his. He gently caressed the back of it with his thumb, as if to soothe her.

He picked up the ring and slowly slid it onto her finger.

It was a perfect fit, settling snugly on her finger. The diamond gave a final flash in the flickering light of the fireworks.

Once the ring was on, Adrian placed a hand on her waist and rose to his feet, pulling her into his arms.

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