: : : Sophie : : :
Kieran leads me through the garden, his hand in mine, warm and steady. I can feel the rhythm of his pulse — strong, fast — and my heart races to match it. I keep glancing up at him, expecting him to suddenly veer off the path, maybe take me to the greenhouse or the west terrace — somewhere quiet and romantic. Somewhere a proposal could bloom like the flowers under moonlight.
But he doesn’t.
We walk straight into the house. Through the hallway. Past the stairs.
Are we going to the library perhaps? Oh, yes. That must be it. The library is the place where we first met. It’ll be so romantic if he proposes to me there.
But again, he makes a turn I didn’t expect.
He stops in front of his study and pushes the door open.
I pause and blink. This is… not what I imagined. No
