Not with panic in his voice.
He simply said,
“If we ever get married, I want it to be because we rebuilt this properly. Not because I’m afraid you’ll leave.”
For the first time, that sounded honest.
I didn’t say yes.

I didn’t say no.
I just smiled.
Because after ten years of waiting for him to choose me, I had finally learned something much more important.
I had to choose myself first.
And the strangest part?
David had spent years insisting that a piece of paper meant nothing.
But one morning at the kitchen table, a few pieces of paper were enough to make him understand exactly how much he stood to lose.