Chương 20 - The Blueprint of ForeverTwenty-four hours later, my private jet touched down at Boston Logan International Airport under a clear, brilliant evening sky.
I didn't stop at my apartment. I didn't check my corporate emails. I took a direct car straight from the tarmac to Massachusetts General Hospital, walking up the stairs to the eighth-floor pediatric wing with a bunch of yellow tulips and a small stuffed bear in my hands.
When I pushed open the door to Leo’s room, the scene inside made my chest ache with a profound, overwhelming sense of peace.
Leo was sitting up in bed, coloring in a new book with crayons, while Maya and Chloe were building a tower of plastic blocks on the floor.
Grace was sitting in the armchair by the window, reading a book. When she heard the door open, she looked up.
Our eyes met across the room.
She stood up slowly, walking over to me as I set the flowers and the bear down on the side table.
“Did everything go well in Chicago?” she asked softly.
“Vance is gone,” I smiled, reaching out to gently cup her cheek with my hand. “The company is secure. And I am right where I belong.”
Grace leaned into my touch, closing her eyes for a brief second before looking back up at me.
“You know, Ryan,” she whispered, a gentle smile playing on her lips. “When I saw you standing in the rain three weeks ago with that diamond ring in your pocket... I thought my life was over.”
I pulled a small, simple velvet box out of my coat pocket—not the cold, ostentatious three-carat diamond I had bought for Amelia Brooks, but a simple, elegant platinum band inlaid with three tiny, delicate stones representing our children.
I dropped down onto one knee right there on the hospital floor, ignoring the dull ache in my hip, looking up into the eyes of the woman who had survived the unimaginable.
“The old blueprint is gone, Grace,” I said, my voice steady, clear, and filled with absolute devotion. “We’re building a new one. From the ground up. Will you marry me—for real this time?”
Grace’s eyes filled with tears, but this time, they were tears of pure joy.
She threw her arms around my neck, pulling me up as she whispered into my ear, “Yes, Ryan. Yes.”
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From the bed, little Leo clapped his hands, while Maya and Chloe cheered, rushing over to hug our legs as the evening sun flooded the room with golden light.
I had lost three years of my life to ambition and blindness. But as I held Grace and our children close, I knew the rest of our story had only just begun.
