CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE #3
Her eyes locked onto Kennedy’s left hand. The brilliant diamond caught the morning sunlight, flashing like a beacon across the room.
Aurora dropped her phone onto the table with a loud clatter. She let out a scream so loud and pitch-perfect that Arthur physically jumped in his chair, spilling his coffee into his saucer.
"Good lord, Aurora!" John barked, clutching his chest. "Are we under attack?"
"Is that a ring?!" Aurora shrieked, ignoring her father-in-law. She lunged across the table, grabbing Kennedy’s wrist and pulling her hand forward. "Is that a diamond ring?!"
The entire room erupted into pandemonium.
Eleanor let out a sharp gasp, immediately bursting into happy tears as she pushed her chair back.
Margaret clapped her hands over her mouth, her eyes widening in pure delight.
Ryder dropped the newspaper, letting out a loud whoop, while Spencer immediately stood up, leaning over the table to inspect the ring.
"It's about damn time!" Ryder yelled over the noise, reaching across the table to aggressively clap his brother on the shoulder.
"We are engaged," Grayson confirmed, an unrestrained smile breaking across his face as he looked at the sheer chaos they had incited.
"Oh, Kennedy, it is beautiful!" Eleanor wept, rushing around the table to pull her future daughter-in-law into a fierce embrace. "Arthur, look at it! They are finally getting married!"
"Congratulations, son," Arthur boomed, walking over to shake Grayson’s hand, his face radiating patriarchal pride. "This is phenomenal news. Truly."
For five solid minutes, the room was a whirlwind of congratulations, demands for details, and joyous celebrations.
Margaret and Eleanor were already discussing the logistics of a winter wedding, debating the merits of importing peonies out of season, while Spencer and Ryder jokingly debated who would throw Grayson a more destructive bachelor party.
And then, in the middle of all the excitement, Aurora suddenly went perfectly still.
She lowered Kennedy’s hand, her eyes narrowing as a horrifying logistical realization struck her.
"Wait a second," Aurora announced, her voice slicing through the noise. The room quieted down, turning to look at her. Aurora pointed an accusatory finger at Kennedy. "If you marry Grayson, you are technically going to move into the Ashford-Wale estate."
"Well, yes," Kennedy nodded, amused by the sudden shift in tone. "That is generally how it works."
"I object," Aurora declared flatly, crossing her arms over her chest. "I absolutely object."
"You can't object to where they live, Aurora," Spencer sighed, rubbing the back of his neck, already sensing the impending headache.
"I absolutely can!" Aurora argued, turning her fierce glare on her husband. "I married you, Spencer, and I moved into this house under the explicit understanding that Kennedy would be here! I am not being abandoned with just you and your parents for company. I will perish of boredom!"
"Aurora, the Ashford-Wale estate is literally right next door," Kennedy laughed, pointing toward the window. "It is a seventy-yard walk across the lawn. We share a gate."
"That is not the point!" Aurora insisted, waving a hand dismissively at the geography.
She turned her sharp gaze on Grayson. "After everything you put this woman through last year, Grayson Ashford-Wale, I think you should be the one to pack your bags and move into the Lockhart estate instead. It is the least you can do."
Grayson threw his head back and laughed loudly, unbothered by her ridiculous demands. "I practically live here already, Aurora. I'll just bring the rest of my suits over."
"Aurora, please stop trying to evict my brother from his own ancestral home," Ryder chuckled, taking a sip of his coffee.
"I am not evicting him, I am negotiating terms of surrender," Aurora shot back flawlessly, maintaining her deadpan seriousness.
Spencer buried his face in his hands, trying and failing to control his chaotic, demanding wife, while John and Arthur laughed heartily at the spectacle.
Kennedy sat in her chair, laughing so hard she had to wrap her arms around her stomach. Her hazel eyes were shining with tears of joy, the sound of her laughter ringing beautifully over the chaotic, affectionate bickering of the family she loved so fiercely.
In the middle of all that noise and familiar madness, Grayson simply stopped and watched her.
He looked at the woman who wore his ring, the mother of his child, surrounded by the people who adored her. He saw the pure, unburdened joy illuminating her face, erasing the last of the shadows that had haunted them for a year.
As he sat at the breakfast table, an unshakeable peace settled into Grayson’s soul.
He had survived the wreckage of his own making, and he had been granted a miracle he did not deserve.
And as he watched Kennedy laugh, he knew, with certainty, that for the rest of his life, protecting that smile, and safeguarding that happiness, was going to mean absolutely everything to him.