February arrived like a whisper.
Cold enough for coats. Warm enough for hope. The city had settled into the rhythm of winter — shorter days, longer nights, the kind of stillness that made you want to curl up inside and stay there. But I couldn't stay inside. The business was growing. Clients were calling. And somewhere between the invoices and the marketing plans and the endless cups of coffee, I'd become someone I never expected to be.
A business owner.
A wife.
A person who believed in happy endings.
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Valentine's Day was Adrian's idea.
Not mine. I'd never been a romantic — not really. Flowers died. Chocolate melted. Grand gestures felt like pressure wrapped in pretty paper. But Adrian had been planning something for weeks. I could tell by the way he disappeared into his study at
