THE CEO RUN AWAY BRIDE

THE HONEYMOON

Maldives. Water Villa 12.

The moment we landed, I forgot how to be scared.

No phones ringing. No security updates. No Damian.

Just turquoise water and the sound of waves.

"Welcome, Mr. and Mrs. Blackwood," the resort manager said, putting flower garlands around our necks.

Adrian squeezed my hand. "2 weeks. Just us."

Our villa was on stilts over the ocean. Glass floor. Private pool. Outdoor shower.

"Is this real?" I asked, standing at the edge of the deck.

"As real as it gets," Adrian said, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around me. "No meetings. No emails. No world. Just you and me."

Day 1: We slept until noon.

I hadn’t slept that late in 10 years.

Day 2: We did nothing.

Breakfast in bed. Swim. Nap. Dinner on the deck.

On day 3, Adrian surprised me.

"Get in the boat," he said.

It was just us and a driver. No security team. No assistants.

We sailed for an hour until it was just water everywhere.

"Do you ever get scared?" I asked. "That it’ll all disappear?"

Adrian looked at me. "Every day. Until I look at you and Kemi. Then I remember we built this. Together."

He pulled me into his lap.

"Remember when you thought I was a monster?" he teased.

"Remember when you thought I was a gold digger?" I teased back.

We laughed.

That night we had dinner on a sandbank. Just a table, candles, and the stars.

Halfway through, Adrian got up.

My heart stopped.

He got down on one knee. Again.

"Ella," he said. "I asked you to marry me in a rush. In chaos. Today I want to ask you properly."

He took out the same ring.

"Will you choose me? Not because of a contract. Not because of safety. But because you want to. Every day. For the rest of our lives?"

I was crying. "Yes. God, yes."

He slipped the ring back on my finger and kissed me.

Day 5 to Day 10 was a blur.

Spa days. Snorkeling. Reading in the hammock.

Adrian taught me how to swim properly.

I taught him how to make noodles.

No one asked who we were. No cameras.

For 2 weeks, I wasn’t "the runaway bride" or "the contract wife".

I was just Ella. Adrian’s wife.

On the last night, we sat on the deck at 2am.

"Ready to go home?" Adrian asked.

I thought about it. The house. Kemi. Mrs. Blackwood.

"Yes," I said. "Because home is with you now."

He kissed my temple. "Me too."

The flight home was 14 hours.

We held hands the whole time.

Landing in Lagos felt different.

Because I wasn’t coming home to hide.

I was coming home to live.

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TO BE CONTINUED IN EPISODE 30: "THE BLACKWOOD WIFE"