The city skyline glittered beneath them, a constellation of lights stretched across the horizon. From the rooftop garden of the new Cole-Vale Innovation Hub , completed just days before and it felt like they could see the whole future unfolding.
Grace stood near the edge, her heels abandoned in the grass, bare toes curling into earth and evening dew. She closed her eyes, breathing it all in: the scent of lavender, the hum of quiet energy from the smart-grid lights overhead, and the sound of Liam's footsteps behind her
He didn't speak at first.
Just wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed a kiss to the spot just beneath her ear , the one that still gave her chills.
"It's everything we imagined," she whispered.
He nodded against her. "It's everything you made possible."
Grace turned in his arms, her expression soft, vulnerable in a way she rarely allowed. "You're really not going to argue for at least half the credit?"
"I don't need half," he murmured. "I just want forever "
Her breath caught.
Liam slowly dropped to one knee not with a spotlight, not with press cameras or board members watching. Just the two of them. At the summit of their shared world.
He pulled a small black box from his pocket and opened it to reveal a ring unlike anything she'd ever seen. No flashy diamond. No antique setting. Just a brilliant green sapphire, nestled in a platinum band that curved like a wave around it.
"The green is for your vision," he said, his voice thick with feeling. "The wave is for how you've changed everything I thought I knew."
Her eyes filled.
"Grace Cole " he said, steady now. "I love you. Fiercely. Fully. And I will spend the rest of my life fighting for what we build together. Say yes, and let's make this permanent. Personally. Professionally. Eternally."
For a long, suspended second, the world held its breath.
Then she dropped to her knees in front of him, laughing through tears. "You arrogant, impossible man…"
He grinned. "Is that a yes?"
She kissed him hard, hands in his hair, heart wide open. "It's a hell yes."
They stayed tangled there for a long time, surrounded by their city, their dream, their love ,rising like a monument behind them.