ANMELDENDylan's POVI had negotiated billion-dollar acquisitions without losing my composure.I had testified before investigators, stood in rooms filled with powerful people determined to destroy everything my family believed in, and faced dangers I never imagined I would survive.None of those moments compared to waiting for my wedding to begin.By seven o'clock that morning, I had already straightened my tie four different times, checked my watch at least twenty, and walked from one end of the hotel suite to the other often enough that Michael, my best man and oldest friend, finally laughed."You know," he said while adjusting his cufflinks, "if you keep pacing like that, you're going to wear a path through the carpet."I stopped long enough to look at him."I'm not pacing.""You've walked past me seventeen times.""I counted because I was bored.""I was thinking.""You were pacing while thinking."I sighed, earning another laugh from everyone gathered inside the suite.For the first time
Aliya's POVThe envelope trembled gently between my fingers as I unfolded the first page. For a long moment, I simply stared at my father's handwriting, unable to read another word because seeing those familiar strokes brought back memories I had spent years trying to hold onto. It felt as though he had reached across time itself, placing one final conversation into my hands. I closed my eyes briefly, inhaled slowly, and began reading.**My Darling Daughter,****If you are reading this, then tomorrow someone will have the privilege of promising to love you for the rest of his life. Before anything else, I want you to know how incredibly proud I am of the woman you have become.**A tear slipped quietly down my cheek.**I know there were days when you questioned whether you were strong enough. I also know there were nights when you probably believed you were completely alone. If I could change anything about your journey, it would only be that. I would have spared you the loneliness. Bu
Aliya's POVThe morning before our wedding arrived wrapped in an almost surreal calm, as though the world itself had decided to slow down and let me savor every moment. When I opened my eyes, sunlight was already spilling gently across the bedroom floor, illuminating the soft white garment bag hanging from the wardrobe door. My wedding dress waited inside, untouched since Martha and Eleanor had insisted on bringing it home the previous evening. I stared at it for several quiet moments, hardly believing that after everything Dylan and I had survived, tomorrow I would walk toward him instead of running beside him. The realization settled gently inside my heart, replacing excitement with something even deeper.Peace.For years, I had imagined weddings as grand celebrations filled with flowers, music, and smiling faces. Now, standing at the edge of my own, I realized none of those things mattered nearly as much as one simple truth.Tomorrow, I would marry the man who had become my safest
Dylan's POVThe penthouse had never been louder.By nine o'clock the next morning, every room seemed occupied by someone carrying flowers, garment bags, ribbon samples, or a clipboard with a schedule that Martha had somehow created overnight. She moved through the apartment with remarkable confidence, issuing instructions as though she had been planning luxury weddings her entire life. Eleanor remained close behind her, gently refining each ambitious idea into something practical while quietly preventing complete chaos from taking over. I stood in the kitchen making coffee for everyone, watching the scene unfold with amused disbelief. For years my home had been a place of quiet efficiency where every object remained exactly where I left it. Now laughter echoed down every hallway, flower petals decorated the dining table, and the living room resembled the headquarters of an exceptionally determined wedding planner. Strangely enough, I had never loved the apartment more.Aliya wandered
Dylan's POVAliya stood perfectly still beneath the magnolia tree, her gaze moving slowly from the weathered wooden bench to the quiet lake beyond it before finally returning to me. The gentle morning breeze carried a shower of pale blossoms through the air, scattering delicate petals across the stone path until the entire garden seemed wrapped in soft shades of white and pink. It wasn't the grandest place in the botanical gardens, nor was it designed to impress visitors with elaborate architecture or dramatic landscaping. Its beauty came from its simplicity. The peaceful silence, interrupted only by birdsong and the occasional ripple across the lake, made it feel like a place where promises naturally belonged. The moment I discovered it earlier that morning, I had immediately imagined Aliya sitting there, smiling exactly the way she was smiling now."You found this all by yourself?" she asked softly, still looking around with quiet admiration.I nodded."I came here just after sunris
Aliya's POVThe following morning arrived with the kind of peaceful quiet I had once believed existed only in other people's lives. Sunlight streamed gently through the curtains, painting warm golden patterns across the bedroom floor while the city slowly awakened beyond my windows. For the first time in what felt like forever, I woke naturally instead of being startled awake by nightmares, urgent phone calls, or another piece of devastating news waiting to change everything. I lay still for several moments, simply appreciating the unfamiliar feeling of complete safety. Then I smiled as memories of the previous evening returned one by one, beginning with burnt chicken, ending with Dylan's hand wrapped around mine across the dinner table, and reminding me that happiness had quietly become my new normal.I reached for my phone on the bedside table and immediately found a message waiting for me.**Good morning, beautiful.****Before you make breakfast, check outside your apartment door.*







