Chapter 17

Sophia was reviewing grant applications when her phone started buzzing. First Maria, then her mother, then numbers she didn't recognize.

"Have you seen it?" Maria asked when Sophia finally answered.

"Seen what?"

"The interview. Ethan's interview. It's everywhere."

Sophia's stomach dropped. "What interview?"

"Manhattan Today. He... Sophia, you need to read this."

With shaking hands, Sophia pulled up the website. The headline made her breath catch:

**"Why I'm Proud to Love Sophia Martinez: An Exclusive with Ethan Blackwell"**

The article was accompanied by a photo of them from the engagement party not the awkward staged shots, but a candid moment where they were laughing at something Marcus had said. They looked happy. They looked real.

*"I called this interview because I'm tired of watching the woman I love be attacked for being extraordinary,"* the article began. *"Sophia Martinez isn't someone who needs defending she's someone who deserves celebrating."*

Sophia sank into her chair, reading Ethan's words with growing amazement.

*"The article about her background got everything wrong. Yes, her family struggled financially when she was young. Yes, they received assistance. But what that article failed to mention is that Sophia has spent the last ten years paying it forward, helping hundreds of families navigate those same challenges."*

*"She turned down Harvard Law School to become a social worker. She's published research that's shaping policy in four states. She's volunteered at a community center for a decade. She doesn't just talk about helping people – she shows up, she does the work, she changes lives."*

*"The real story isn't that she came from struggle. It's that she transformed that struggle into service. She didn't marry me for my money – she barely tolerates my money. She's with me despite my world, not because of it."*

The interview continued for several paragraphs, with Ethan detailing specific examples of her work, her character, her impact. He talked about the foundation plans they'd made together, about her vision for family advocacy, about how she'd challenged him to think beyond charity galas and tax write offs.

*"I've been thinking about this all wrong,"* he said near the end. *"I was worried about whether she could fit into my world. The real question is whether my world deserves her. I'm going to spend the rest of my life trying to make sure it does."*

The article ended with an announcement: the Martinez Foundation for Family Advocacy, established with a ten-million-dollar endowment, would begin accepting applications for its first round of grants within the month.

Sophia stared at the screen, tears blurring her vision. He'd named the foundation after her. He'd put her work, her vision, her name in the spotlight not as his fiancée, but as an advocate in her own right.

Her phone rang. Ethan.

This time, she answered.

"Did you read it?" he asked without preamble.

"I'm reading it now."

"I should have done this a week ago. I should have stood up for you from the beginning."

"Ethan"

"I was scared. Not of them, but of losing you. And in trying to protect what we had, I almost destroyed it."

"You didn't destroy anything."

"I asked you to take a break. I let you think that I was ashamed of you, of us. I let you walk away."

"I needed to walk away. I needed to remember who I was."

"And who are you?"

The question hung between them, loaded with possibility. "I'm someone who helps families. Someone who understands struggle. Someone who's proud of where she comes from."

"I'm proud of where you come from too. I'm proud of who you are, what you've accomplished, what you're going to accomplish."

"The foundation... Ethan, you can't just....."

"I can and I did. Whether you take me back or not, the work you want to do deserves to be funded. The families you want to help deserve to be served."

"And if I don't take you back?"

"Then I'll love you from a distance and trust that you'll use the money to change the world."

Sophia closed her eyes, feeling the weight of the decision in front of her. "Where are you?"

"Downstairs. In the lobby. I've been sitting here for two hours, hoping you'd call."

"Come up."

When she opened the door, he looked terrible exhausted, worried, hopeful. He was holding a folder.

"What's that?"

"The foundation paperwork. Your foundation. I want you to see that it's real, that it's yours, that it doesn't depend on us being together."

She took the folder, scanning the documents. Everything was in order, everything was legitimate. The Martinez Foundation for Family Advocacy was real.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because you deserve to have your dreams funded. Because the work you want to do matters. Because I love you."

"In that order?"

"In exactly that order."

She set the folder aside and looked at him really looked at him. He was different somehow, more solid, more certain.

"I read the interview," she said. "All of it."

"And?"

"And I think you finally figured out who you want to be."

"I want to be the man who's worthy of loving you. I want to be your partner, not your protector. I want to build something together that matters."

"What about Harrison? What about your business?"

"Harrison apologized. He realized he was wrong about you. And the business... the business will be there. But if I lose you, I lose everything that matters."

Sophia felt the last of her walls crumble. "I love you too, you know."

"I was hoping."

"But if we do this, if we try again, things have to be different."

"Tell me how."

"No more breaks. No more asking me to step aside when things get difficult. No more trying to protect me from who I am."

"Done."

"No more letting other people define what we are or what we're worth."

"Done."

"And no more proposals without discussing them first. A foundation is a big deal, Ethan."

"I know. I'm sorry. I should have asked."

"You should have. But..." She picked up the folder again. "It's perfect. Everything I dreamed of and more."

"So you'll run it?"

"We'll run it. Together. As partners."

"Partners?"

"In everything. The foundation, the work, the life we're building. Equal partners."

He stepped closer, reaching for her hands. "I love you, Sophia Martinez. I love your strength, your compassion, your refusal to be anything other than who you are. I love that you challenge me, that you make me better, that you see possibilities I never imagined."

"I love you too, Ethan Blackwell. I love that you're willing to change, to grow, to fight for what matters."

"So we're doing this?"

"We're doing this."

He kissed her then, and it felt like coming home. Like finding their way back to each other after a long journey through doubt and fear and possibility.

When they broke apart, Sophia smiled. "So, about this foundation..."

"What about it?"

"I have some ideas for our first round of grants."

"Our first round?"

"Our foundation, our grants, our work. That's what partners means."

"I like the sound of that."

"Good. Because we have a lot of work to do."