Total pages in book: 33
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 30287 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 151(@200wpm)___ 121(@250wpm)___ 101(@300wpm)
My heart stops, and for a moment, all I can do is stare. The man who has been my rock, my lover, my everything, is looking at me like I am his entire world.
I swallow hard, emotions thick in my throat as I nod, unable to find the words. “Yes,” I manage to whisper, my voice cracking. “Yes, Alex, I’ll marry you.”
Relief washes over his face, and in one smooth motion, he pulls me closer, his lips brushing mine in a kiss so soft, so full of love it nearly breaks me.
“I’ll spend the rest of my life protecting you,” he murmurs against my mouth, his hands now cradling me completely. “Making you happy. That’s all I want.”
Tears slip down my cheeks, but I’m smiling, my heart overflowing with everything I feel for him. "I love you," I whisper, sinking into him, knowing that this moment is only the beginning of our forever.
Epilogue
Alex - six weeks later
The circus feels different now. Not just in the way the lights flicker over the audience, illuminating their excited faces, or in the way the performers move through their routines with a renewed energy. It’s something deeper. The air is lighter, as if the weight of everything we’ve gone through has finally lifted. There’s laughter, real laughter, echoing through the grounds again, and I catch glimpses of smiles exchanged between the performers as they prep for their acts.
The crowds are back, filling the seats in ways I hadn’t seen for weeks. It’s a sea of faces, lit with wonder and joy as the performers captivate them. The tension that once lurked beneath the surface is gone, replaced by something more vibrant, more alive. I walk through the big top, the chatter of the crowd blending with the rustling of the animals behind the scenes. It’s strange—this sense of peace after everything we’ve been through.
But it’s not just the circus. It’s Sophia.
I glance at her from across the ring as she runs her hand over Zeus’s back, her fingers threading through his thick mane. Her eyes, usually so guarded, are softer now. The fierceness is still there—Sophia will never lose that edge—but there’s something else in her now. A sense of calm. A sense of... home. She catches me watching, and for a moment, her lips twitch into the faintest of smiles before she looks away.
I can’t help but smile back.
The danger, the uncertainty—it’s all behind us now. And with it, the tension that had hung between us for so long has started to dissolve. We’ve found our rhythm, not just in how we work together but in how we move around each other. It’s effortless now, seamless. When I approach her, when I reach for her hand, it doesn’t feel like the desperate, charged moments we’ve shared in the past. It feels steady, solid.
Together.
“We’ve come a long way,” I murmur as I approach her, my hand brushing hers as we stand side by side near the ring. The performance is underway, the crowd enthralled, but in this moment, all I see is her.
She glances up at me, her eyes holding mine for just a moment longer than usual. “Yeah, we have.” Her voice is soft, but there’s a warmth in it that wasn’t there before. She looks back at Zeus, still resting near her feet, calm and composed. “I never thought we’d get here.”
I nod, knowing exactly what she means. “Neither did I.”
We stand in comfortable silence for a moment, the sounds of the circus swirling around us. Performers laughing, the excited murmur of the crowd, the steady hum of the night. It feels like everything is as it should be. For the first time in a long time, the chaos has given way to something peaceful. And I know Sophia feels it too.
Her gaze shifts to me again, and there’s a question in her eyes—one I’ve seen there before but one she’s never voiced. I give her a small nod, silently letting her know it’s okay.
“I’ve been meaning to tell you,” I say, my voice lower now, more serious. “About the circus... and the owner.”
She raises an eyebrow, intrigued. “You’ve been holding out on me?”
I chuckle softly, but there’s an edge of seriousness to what I’m about to share. “The circus has always been more than just a show. The owner, the real owner, has been funding a charity for years. It’s something we don’t talk about much, but a huge portion of the profits go toward helping refugee women and children. It’s why I was brought in to begin with.”
Her eyes widen slightly, processing this new information. “I had no idea.”
“That’s the point,” I reply. “It’s quiet. But it’s important. And it’s why I stayed. The work we do here—it matters. Not just for the audience but for the people we help.”
Sophia nods slowly, the weight of what I’m saying settling in. She’s quiet for a moment, her eyes flicking back to the crowd, then back to me. “That makes sense,” she finally says. “The circus... it’s always been a place for people to find refuge. Even for me.”