Chapter 5 - The Gift of the SkylineBy late spring, the winter snows over Manhattan had melted into warm, brilliant sunshine that painted the city in shades of gold and green.
The top-floor penthouse at Vance Tower had been transformed—adding a wide, sunlit playroom overlooking Central Park, a private nursery, and a rooftop garden filled with blooming white roses, jasmine, and fresh lavender.
On a warm afternoon in late May, four-month-old Lily and Mia lay in a double stroller, wearing tiny pink dresses, happily cooing at the butterflies fluttering around the white hydrangeas.
I sat in a comfortable lounge chair wearing a simple cream silk dress, holding a cup of fresh chamomile tea, looking out over the Manhattan skyline.
Footsteps sounded softly on the wooden deck behind me. Elias walked out into the sunlight wearing a dark linen shirt with his sleeves rolled up, carrying two fresh glasses of lemonade.
He set the glasses on the side table, stepping behind my chair, gently wrapping his arms around my shoulders and pressing a soft kiss to my hair.
"How are the foundation reports looking, Director Miller?" Elias teased, resting his jaw against my cheek.
"Flawless, Mr. Vance," I smiled back, turning my head to look into his gray eyes. "The Ava & Twin Daughters Shelter Foundation just opened its second emergency housing facility in Brooklyn this morning. We've helped forty mothers and children this month alone."
Elias let out a low laugh—a sound that filled my heart with genuine joy—and ran his fingers through my hair.
"You're amazing, Ava," he whispered, his gray eyes holding an intensity that made my breath catch.
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a blue velvet box, and set it gently in my lap.
I opened the box under the spring sunlight. Inside rested a seven-carat emerald-cut diamond ring set in platinum.
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"No more living in the shadows, Ava," Elias promised, his voice thick with devotion. "Marry me. Let me love you and our daughters for the rest of our lives."
Tears of pure happiness welled in my eyes. I turned in my seat, wrapping my arms tightly around his neck, pulling his lips down to mine in a kiss that sealed our promise under the open sky.
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