Chapter 40%
Ince again, Jonathan jolted awake from a nightmare.
n the past two years, he was tortured by Yvonne and her child and he had aged a lot.
He pulled out the crumpled paper rose from the drawer, a bitter smile twisting his lips as he tossed it into the trash. Then, he poured smself a full glass of liquor.
The moment the alcohol burned down his throat, he suddenly remembered. Years ago, the way my eyes used to shine when I held that Japer rose.
But now, my latest social media post was a photo of two hands tightly.
ghtly intertwined, with the caption below. “Slow and steady wins the
ace.
He couldn’t bear it any longer and broke down, sobbing
The week before Christmas Eve, the city welcomed its first snow!
i was curled up on the couch with a blanket, watching a movie. Pax was snoring softly, curled up on my lap.)
Julian was in the kitchen, busy working. The rich aroma of red wine beef stew filled the entire living room
Outside the floor–to–ceiling windows, snowflakes drifted down in silence.
shelf?
“Daphne.” Julian suddenly poked his head out of the kitchen, “Can you help me grab the cinnamon from the top st
I rubbed Pax’s head and got up, my bare feet sinking into the warm carpet.
Reaching up for the little brown bottle on the cabinet, I felt arms suddenly wrap around me from behind.
“Gotcha, Julian said, resting his chin on my head
His hand covered mine, easily taking the spice jar, but he didn’t let go.
“The beef’s gonna burn,” I laughed, nudging him with my elbow.l
“I actually didn’t need the cinnamon. He suddenly turned me around, gently pinning me against the cabinet. The firelight from the stove flickered in his eyes. “I just wanted an excuse to hug you.”
At some point, Pax had trotted over and was now sitting by our feet, tilting his head, watching our weird human behavior!
Julian bent down, scooped him up and stuffed him into my arms. “Let’s take this little third wheel and watch the snow on the balcony.
He wrapped the three of us in a giant blanket like one oversized cocoon X
Pax squirmed his way out through the folds and pounced on the light dusting of snow atop the railing.!!
We watched the snowfall for a while when Julian suddenly fished a small box out of his pocket.
“What is this?])
“I had this ring made back when you were still with him.”
He opened the box, revealing a simple platinum band lying quietly inside.
“I’ve kept it for a long time, of course, I prepared other rings too, but I felt that proposing with this one would be more meaningful.” Pax suddenly jumped over and pawed at the wooden box. The ring rolled into my palm, icy cold yet burning hot.
Julian rarely mentioned his years of secret admiration for me, only letting slip his youthful feelings unintentionally at certain moments. “Daphne,” Julian held my trembling hand, his voice softer than the snow. “I know you don’t believe in forever, so I won’t say a lifetime.” “I just want to be the next name on your marriage certificate “B
In the distance, the church bells began to chime Pax’s tail brushed softly against my ankle.X
“Okay” I heard myself say, my voice vanishing into the snowy night. “But you have to add Pax’s paw print too.”
Julian froze like someone had hit a pause on him. It wasn’t until Pax meowed impatiently that he snapped out of it. With shaking hands. he slipped the ring onto my fingerli
It was a perfect fit, glimmering with a gentle silver glow under the snowy light.
“I actually wrote a whole speech, he muttered into the crook of my neck, his voice muffled. “But I forgot all of it.”
I kissed the tip of his red ear with a smile. “This is better.
Suddenly, we heard a poof from the kitchen.
Pax immediately scratched at the glass door, panicking. Julian scrambled to save dinner but wouldn’t let go of my hand.
We stumbled and bumped into each other as we rushed into the kitchen. The windows were all fogged up from the steam, casting three crooked little shadows on the glass.
Outside the window, the first snow continued to fall silently, covering all traces of where we had come from
(The End)