He kept choosing her over me until I canceled our wedding and took back the future he thought was already his

Two weeks after our quiet afternoon in Lincoln Park, the final chapter of the corporate restructuring was officially closed on paper.

I sat at my grand mahogany desk at Miller & Associates, reviewing the final, consolidated asset transfer documents for the newly minted *Miller-Vance Foundation*. Every single legacy account tied to the old guard had been dissolved, audited, and repurposed into community outreach and legal aid clinics across the greater Chicago area.

Arthur Vance had officially relocated to a secluded estate in Arizona, effectively neutralized and permanently retired from corporate interference. Clara Vance had vanished from the society pages entirely, her social standing evaporated the moment the elite realized she was no longer backed by Vance money or influence.

My phone chimed on the desk.

*Dante: The board meeting is officially adjourned. The new charter passed unanimously. I am legally, officially, and completely unemployed for the next forty-eight hours.*

I smiled, typing back quickly.

*Bella: Unemployed? Should I be worried you’re going to start haunting law firms looking for trouble?*

*Dante: I’m currently standing outside your office building with two tickets to Paris and a carry-on bag. Pack a suit, counselor. We have a vacation to start.*

I stared at the screen, my eyebrows shooting up in surprise. Paris. No corporate summits, no charity galas, no family obligations. Just an open-ended escape.

I stood up from my desk, grabbed my blazer, and locked my office door behind me.

When I stepped out of the elevator into the lobby of Miller & Associates, Dante was leaning casually against a marble pillar near the revolving doors. He wasn't wearing a tailored tuxedo or a stiff corporate suit; he wore a dark casual blazer, jeans, and sunglasses tucked into his shirt pocket. He looked relaxed, unburdened, and entirely like the man I had fallen in love with a lifetime ago.

When he saw me walking across the polished lobby, he pushed off the pillar, a slow, breathtaking smile spreading across his face.

He didn't care about the junior partners staring, the clients walking past, or the city watching us through the glass. He walked straight toward me, took my face in his hands, and kissed me right there in the middle of the lobby—deeply, passionately, and without a single ounce of hesitation.

When he finally pulled back, resting his forehead against mine, his dark eyes were shining with absolute certainty.

“Ready, Bella?” he whispered against my lips.

I looked down at the simple rose gold band on my left hand, then back up into his eyes, feeling the fierce, unbreakable bond we had forged from the ashes of our old lives.