Page 104 of Bound By Crimson

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“I want us to get married,” he said after a beat. “Before the baby comes. Here. In the garden, maybe.”

Her heart thudded, full and warm.

“You mean it?”

“I do,” he said, brushing his lips across her forehead. “I want our child to come into a real family. I want to give you my name. I want it all with you.”

She didn’t answer right away. Just nodded, burying herself into his warmth.

They drifted there, bodies curved together, quiet. And even though her eyes were heavy, her mind buzzed.

Was this it? Was this what happiness looked like—hushed and sacred, tucked away in a place the world couldn’t touch?

She was just about to fall asleep when she heard it.

The soft click of the doorknob.

It turned, slowly. Once.

Then stopped.

Her eyes snapped open.

Kai was already asleep, his breathing deep and steady beside her.

She stared at the door, heart thudding in her chest.

They had locked it. She had watched him do it.

For a long, breathless moment, nothing happened.

No knock.

No voice.

Just silence.

Maybe the house settled.

Maybe she imagined it.

Maybe the old mechanics shifted in their sleep like everything else.

Still… she didn’t move. She just stared at the door, until her eyes burned and her chest ached.

Eventually, she let herself believe it was nothing.

She turned into Kai’s chest, clinging a little tighter.

Sleep never came.

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Lyric woke early, though she hadn’t really slept.

She waited until Kai’s breathing shifted into the slow rhythm of deep sleep before slipping out of bed.

The hallway was still dark, but morning would come soon—and with it, the staff.

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