Chapter 7
Fiancée
The Paris sky was still painted in that grayish blue
of early dawn when I opened my eyes and found Adrien sprawled across the bed, sleeping soundly beside me as if the whole world had finally stopped demanding something from him.
My fiancé.
The word still felt absurd in my head.
I shifted slightly on the pillow just to watch him. His dark hair was a mess, his lashes resting against his skin, his lips slightly parted. Relaxed. Impossibly beautiful.
There was no fear that morning, no invisible line between us. No walking on eggshells or hidden guilt.
Just us.
My gaze drifted to my hand on the sheet.
The ring caught the faint light of the room, glinting softly.
I was going to marry Adrien Moreau. I let out a quiet laugh, still not quite believing it myself.
That sound was what woke him.
He grumbled something unintelligible, rolled over, and immediately pulled me close, still half asleep, burying his face in my neck.
“Good morning, future Mrs. Moreau,” he murmured, voice hoarse.
I rolled my eyes.
“You’re going to be unbearable about this, aren’t you?”
“Already am.”
He lifted his face just enough to look at me.
His blue eyes were still sleepy, but that smile…
Shit.
That smile destroyed me.
“You agreed to marry me,” he said as if he was still processing it. “You literally agreed.”
“Adrien…”
“Max, you’re going to use my last name.”
“Maybe I’ll keep mine.”
He looked genuinely offended.
“Cruelty. That’s emotional cruelty.”
I laughed softly when he pulled me on top of him, settling me against his chest.
“You cried more than I did yesterday,” I teased.
“That’s a lie.”
“You sobbed.”
“That was controlled masculine emotion.”
“Sure.”
Adrien narrowed his eyes at me dramatically before kissing my forehead. I’d never known love could feel this easy before him.
Intense? Yes.
Overwhelming? Always.
But never easy. With Adrien, even chaos felt safe. We stayed tangled in bed for a few more minutes until he grabbed his phone from the nightstand.
“Don’t do it,” I warned immediately. But he had already taken the photo.
“Too late.”
“Adrien Moreau.”
He was already typing while laughing.
“You can’t stop me, we’re practically an institution now.”
“We’ve been engaged for eight hours.”
“Long enough.”
My phone buzzed seconds later.
I checked it and found a horrible photo of me, completely disheveled, lying on his chest.
The caption:
My fiancée. ??
My eyes widened.
“YOU POSTED THIS?”
Adrien burst out laughing.
“You look beautiful.”
“I look like a natural disaster victim.”
“An extremely hot victim.”
I threw a pillow at his face while he laughed even harder.
The problem was that less than five minutes later, my phone started blowing up with notifications.
Sebastian:HE FINALLY DID IT.
Charlotte:I’M CRYING.
Logan:She really agreed to marry you? I’ll pray for her.
Adrien grabbed his own phone right after and let out a pained groan.
“Oh no. Sebastian’s already started.”
“What did he send?”
He turned the screen toward me.
Sebastian:Good morning, future Mrs. who’s going to have to deal with Adrien freaking out because he lost his towel in his own bathroom.
I burst out laughing.
“Is that true?”
“THAT’S NOT THE POINT RIGHT NOW.”
My phone buzzed again.
Charlotte:Let’s have dinner, no excuses—I want to know everything.
“We’re being summoned,” I said.
“Seems fair.”
Adrien pulled me by the waist again, making me fall against him.
“I still can’t believe you’re going to marry me.”
“You’ve said that three times today.”
“Because it’s still absurd.”
I slowly traced my fingers across his face.
“You know I would have said yes from the beginning, don’t you?”
His gaze softened instantly.
“I know now.”
The silence that followed was the good kind.
Adrien turned his head and slowly kissed the palm of my hand before resting his forehead against mine.
“Thank you for staying with me,” he said quietly.
I brought my hand to his face.
“Always with you, Adie.”
His blue eyes closed for a second and then, of course, the moment was destroyed.
“My fiancée.”
“Adrien.”
“My future wife.”
“Are you really going to keep repeating that?”
“Probably until I die.”
I rolled my eyes, but I was already smiling again. Maybe I’d never be able to stop smiling because of him.