FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS (Ophelia Corrigan) novel Chapter 108

CHAPTER 108

MIE

A second light rose over the ocean, silent. Then another. And another.

They weren’t fireworks. They were golden points, small as fireflies, climbing in perfect formation and lining up against the dark sky like someone was drawing with stars. I stood frozen, breath caught, feeling my heart slam against my ribs.

“Simon… what is that?”

He didn’t answer. Just stood beside me, his hand finding mine, his eyes locked on the sky. The drones started to move, and the first image took shape. A terrace. A balcony of a high-rise, identical to the one at his office, with two figures made of light standing side by side. One of them, taller, had that confident posture. The other, smaller, with a bun in her hair. Then a third point of light appeared – a miniature helicopter landing on the drawn helipad, and the smaller figure walked away, leaving the tall one alone.

“It’s you,” I whispered, my voice breaking. “And me.”

The show kept going. The drones regrouped, and the scene changed.

Now, two figures were in a bed. And the taller one getting up to sleep on the floor.

A wet laugh escaped my lips. “The night at my grandmother’s house.”

Simon squeezed my hand. The sky transformed again. Now, an enormous face was taking shape from thousands of glowing points. My face. The drones paused, and for a moment, the image seemed to look directly at me. Then the “hair” of light began to sway, like a soft breeze was moving it. Simon kissed my hand and said, “That’s how I see you. Always beautiful.”

Then the lights came apart and formed a new scene: my face laughing, eyes bright, mouth open in a genuine cackle. And then another face, the same one, but with tears of light streaming down my cheeks. Two versions of me, floating side by side.

He showed everything. The joy and the pain. Every moment that brought us here.

And then all the lights converged at the center of the sky and formed a single sentence, written in gold against the night:

“MARRY ME?”

My heart beat once, too hard.

Simon pulled a box from his pocket.

“No,” I whispered.

He stopped.

“No?”

“I didn’t mean no. I meant… my God, Simon.”

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

“I need you to be more specific. Bad time for ambiguity.”

en terrified Laughed.

He took a deep breath. Simon looked like he was choosing every word carefully.

“You told me you’d only live with a man after marriage.”

“That wasn’t a suggestion.”

“I know.” A brief smile appeared. “I also know that asking you to marry me three days after we started dating sounds insane.”

Simon stepped closer.

“But I didn’t start wanting you three days ago.”

My eyes burned.

“Simon…”

“I’m not asking because I’m afraid of losing you tomorrow. Even though I am. I’m asking because when I think about fifty years from now, you’re still there. My best friend. The woman I want every single day. I can see you stealing my pillow, wearing my shirts, spreading your files all over our bed. I can see our stupid fights in the kitchen and you telling me to stop smiling when you’re mad. I can imagine a thousand versions of our future, Jamie. I just can’t imagine any of them without you.”

A tear slid down my face. Simon wiped it with his thumb.

“I don’t need a quick ceremony. I don’t need you to leave your apartment tomorrow. I don’t need you to answer because you’re afraid of letting me down. I can wait for the wedding, for the move, for all of it. I just don’t want to and I can’t wait one more day to ask you, because I love you.”

Then he got down on one knee in the sand.

The whole world went silent.

Simon opened the box. It was the third ring he’d bought for me, and like all the other times, he managed to leave me speechless. He always got it disturbingly right.

“Jamie Collins, will you marry me?”

I looked at the diamond ring. At the golden points in the sky.

Simon saw something shift in my face.

“You don’t have to say yes today.”

The staff stayed perfectly still. The photographer lowered her camera even more. Nobody was pushing

1. Not even Simon.

And that was exactly what undid the knot.

“I have conditions,” I said.

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FAKE DATING WITH BENEFITS MY BILLIONAIRE BOSS

He let out a breath that sounded like he’d been holding it his entire life.

fcourse you do.”

“I’m not quitting my job.”

“I wouldn’t even try to stop you.”

“You don’t get to buy decisions about my life.”

His smile lost its edge.

“I’m going to screw that up sometimes. But I can make an effort to do better.”

“Kids aren’t accessories to our happiness. If Abby wakes up, we do what’s best for them, even if it hurts.”

“Yes.”

“And if I think everything’s moving too fast, you slow down.”

“Even stop, if you ask.”

I swallowed the fear.

“Then yes.”

Simon didn’t move.

“Yes, what?”

“Don’t ruin it.”

“I need to hear it precisely.”

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