The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 357: Stay with me (2)

"Is this what the two of you have been planning all day?" She asked, remembering how strange they were acting on their way to the amusement park.

Rosaly bounced up and down. "I’m not supposed to tell you Grandpa Theo baked you a pizza and asked Uncle Zeus to bring it here."

Lucy laughed while Theodore facepalmed. "Thanks Rosaly." The little girl could barely keep a secret, especially when she was so excited. Who could blame her? It was already a stretch that she hadn’t blurted out the whole plan at the amusement park. This was exactly why he didn’t tell her the details and why he kept putting her on many different rides. She would be too excited to remember they had a deal involving Lucy.

He knew Lucy was waiting for an explanation nonetheless, so he took her hand.

"Lucy, I never stopped loving you for one single day. I’ve been the happiest man in the world these last few days that you’ve been staying over. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier than you staying infinitely. Well, except having weekends with our grandchildren so we can play with them together."

"What are you saying?" She quirked a brow.

"What I’m saying is..." he went down on one knee and raised a brow at Rosaly, who knew to press the next button on her portable music player. Jason Derulo’s ’Will you marry me’ belted out at the same time as he asked, "Will you marry me?"

She laughed in disbelief. "You didn’t just pull the same move you pulled all those years ago."

"I did." He looked up at her seriously. "The biggest regret I’ve ever had is agreeing to a divorce all those years ago."

She hummed. "I don’t know...will I get to eat your tasty recipes?"

"Every day of the week—except that one day of the week that I will take you out on a date." He promised. "And yes, you will always have blueberry muffins at your disposal to eat any time you want. Except when Zaria comes over and gobbles them all up, in which case I will instantly bake some more."

She laughed through her sigh. "Theo," helping him up from his knees, she smiled. "The only regret I’ve ever had is leaving. But even then, I wouldn’t have it any other way because if anything changed, we wouldn’t be us. And yes, I’ll marry you."

He excitedly pulled her into a hug and spun her around while Rosaly squealed and cheered. When he gave her the signal, she plucked a jewel out of her tiara, which turned out to be a diamond ring. They had taken away the tiara’s top jewel and locked the ring in place.

Lucy laughed as Theodore slid the ring onto her finger. "The ring has been on her head all day and I didn’t see it?"

He grinned. "Just like years ago, when I attached it to your bracelet and you didn’t see it all day."

"I guess I can confess it now..." she lowered her voice. "I saw the ring when I realized how strange my bracelet felt that day. But I didn’t want to ruin your surprise so I feigned ignorance all day."

He shook his head. "My cunning Lucy."

As a final touch, fireworks exploded in the sky and spelled out [I love you], making the grumpy neighbor complain and threaten to call the police, while Lucy laughed at his cheesiness.

"Let’s have some of that pizza Rosaly mentioned, shall we?" She winked.

________

"Clarion..." Evan raked a hand through his hair as he paced his living room.

Why was he still thinking about that woman?

Usually, his interest in women would only last a few days. Before Zaria rejected him, he had never been told no by a woman. Though now that he thought about it , he rarely had the chance to approach women. They were usually offering themselves on a silver platter by the time he got the first word out of his mouth.

However, Clarion wouldn’t give him the time of day.

What was it about her, anyway? She wasn’t his type to begin with. He would pick a voluptuous brunette any day of the week. Clarion was none of that.

She looked like a supermodel with her five foot seven—or eight—slender frame, with slight curves and long legs that made him want to pick her up and see if she could cross them behind his back.

He was definitely going crazy, having such thoughts about a woman who wanted nothing to do with him. It would have been easier if she had zero interest in him but they had danced at Zaria and Desmond’s wedding and after that, he was certain he caught her checking him out a few times.

She was running him mad. Was she into him or not? And if she was, why did she blow him off? And why was she stuck on his mind?

He guzzled down the rest of his tequila and made a decision he was certainly way too drunk to stop himself from making. Tomorrow, he was going to ask her out. If she said no, maybe that would help bring his mind back from whatever hellhole of insanity it had drifted off to.

He gave Zaria a call. Desmond was the one who answered it, which he should have expected seeing it was already 11pm.

"What?" Desmond snapped.

"Sorry." He laughed. "I wanted to know if Rosaly still has ballet classes."

"She has one scheduled for Saturday. Why?"

He cursed. Today was Saturday. That was six whole days away. Still, he took it. "I thought I’d help you drop her off. You and Zaria have been busy after all, and my schedule is free."

The few seconds of silence that followed let him know Desmond knew exactly what he was up to. So it was a huge relief when Desmond said, "I just remembered Rosaly wanted to get new pointe shoes and a white tutu. Why don’t you take her to the store tomorrow? There’s one run by Swan Lake."

Swan Lake was the ballet school Clarion worked for. His eyes lit up when he realized that would mean he had to get into the school to access the store.

"Thanks, man." He said. He knew Desmond made up the need for a tutu just to help him out.

"Don’t thank me. Anything to make sure you don’t try to get your claws on my wife ever again."

He laughed out loud. He wasn’t going to pretend Zaria was no longer beautiful just because he belatedly decided to stay away from her, but it was best if they left that behind them. Besides, no one had ever made his heart race as fast as Clarion did.

So the following day, he dropped by Theodore’s house where he could hear their laughter all the way outside .

"Evan?" Lucy didn’t look surprised to see him when she opened the door. Desmond must have alerted them.

"Hi, Lucy. What’s the occasion? You guys sound happy in here."

Rosaly was quick to answer. "Grandma Lucy said yes to Grandpa Theo!"

It took a moment for him to register what that meant. His eyes widened. "Unbelievable! Lucky old man." When he sensed Lucy’s glare, he laughed awkwardly. "I mean, lucky young man."

Lucy rolled her eyes. "Just go. Good luck." She said as she nudged Rosaly toward him.