When I finally recovered and returned home, everything had changed. I couldn’t go back to being her boss. I asked her to join me for dinner, not in the formal dining room, but at a small, quiet restaurant in town.

The transition from employer to suitor terrified her, but I courted her slowly, trying to break down the massive walls she had built around herself.
The night I finally proposed, we were standing in the gardens of the estate. I offered her a ring, pouring my heart out, telling her that she was the only real, pure thing in my life.

Emily broke down. She refused, stepping away from me with tears streaming down her face. “Sir, please,” she sobbed, still using that formal title that drove me crazy. “You don’t understand. You come from heaven, and I come from earth. We don’t belong together.

You deserve someone from your world. Someone who isn’t… broken.”
“I don’t want anyone from my world,” I told her, pulling her close. “I want you. I want Johnny, Paul, and Lily. I want all of it. We have the resources. We can bring them here. We can give them a beautiful life.”

She froze at the mention of the names, a complex wave of emotion washing over her face, but she didn’t correct me. She just buried her face in my chest and finally, mercifully, whispered yes.
We arranged a very private, quiet wedding. No press, no board members, just a simple ceremony overlooking the ocean.

Throughout the day, Emily was radiant, yet I could sense a deep, vibrating tension humming beneath her surface. She was terrified of the night to come. I assumed it was the vulnerability of intimacy, or perhaps shame about her body after bearing three children.

I was determined to be patient, to show her that she was entirely safe with me.

When we finally retired to our honeymoon suite, the silence between us was heavy. The room was softly lit, the sound of the ocean waves crashing against the shore outside. I stood near the edge of the bed, giving her space.

Emily stood near the window, her back turned to me. She was trembling so violently I could see it from across the room. Slowly, agonizingly, she unzipped her dress and let it fall to the floor. She reached for the silk robe I had bought for her, slipping it over her shoulders before turning around.