Page 101 of The Professor's Wife

He didn’t respond right away.

I was still fussing with the mess when I heard his voice, low, steady, and close.

“Daisy.”

I looked up—and froze.

He was kneeling beside me, one hand resting on his thigh, the other holding a small velvet box.

My breath caught.

He opened it.

The ring inside was anything but subtle. A massive diamond sparkled beneath the patio lights, flanked by smaller stones that glittered like stars. It was flashy and unmistakably expensive.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a long time,” he said, his voice quiet but sure. “You’ve changed my life. You’ve made me believe the perfect woman exists.”

I stared at him, the napkins forgotten in my hand.

“I want to build a life with you. With Rowe. I want to be your partner. Your mentor. Your lover. Your everything.”

He held my gaze.

“Will you marry me?”

Tears welled in my eyes. I nodded, whispering, “Yes.”

With a huge grin, he slipped the ring onto my finger, and I threw my arms around him, laughing through my tears.

The wine stain didn’t matter anymore. June’s words no longer burned through my mind.

Nothing mattered except him and this moment.

Much later, after he took me to bed and made love to me, we curled up beneath a blanket in the bedroom.

I lay with my head on his bare chest, listening to the steady beat of his heart.

With Oliver, I didn’t feel like nothing anymore.

I felt chosen.

Wanted.

Deserving.

I felt like I mattered in a world that had ignored me, that had made me fight for everything I had.

The ring sparkled like it had its own gravitational pull. While it didn’t feel like me, it would eventually.

I knew that.

I needed to relax, to fall into this way of life because I wasn’t back there anymore, scraping together every penny.

Not anymore.

I turned my hand over, watching the light catch every side. It was beautiful.

Extravagant.