Chapter 21 - THE MAN WHO KICKED VICTOR
Adrian proposed three years after we began dating.
Not at a gala.
Not beside a fireplace.
Not with champagne.
We were in my kitchen eating takeout noodles.
He placed no ring on the table.
He said:
“I want to marry you.”
I nearly choked.
“That’s your proposal?”
“I have a ring.”
“Where?”
“In my coat.”
“Why isn’t it here?”
“Because I wanted you to answer the question before seeing jewelry.”
I stared at him.
Therapy again.
“I need a prenup.”
“Yes.”
“Separate lawyers.”
“Yes.”
“You never get automatic medical authority.”
“Yes.”
“If I become incapacitated, my healthcare proxy is not automatically my spouse.”
“I know.”
“You’re okay with that?”
“Seraphina, I’m a cardiologist. I think independent medical decision structures are romantic now.”
I laughed.
Then cried.
Then said yes.
We wrote documents months before the wedding.
My healthcare proxy named:
Rachel first.
A professional patient advocate second.
Adrian third.
Not because I distrusted him.
Because he agreed not to be sole authority over a condition he understood too intimately.
His assets remained separate.
Mine too.
Shared property defined clearly.
No Blackwood shares transferred through marriage.
We attended premarital counseling.
The counselor asked Adrian about the gala.
“Do you think saving Seraphina created a bond?”
“Yes.”
“Dangerous?”
“Yes.”
“What happens if she doesn’t need saving?”
“Hopefully we have dinner.”
I smiled.
Our wedding had forty guests.
No champagne tower.
Not because champagne was evil.
Because neither of us wanted the visual.
Wine existed.
Water existed.
I watched the water being poured once.
Then stopped myself.
Adrian noticed.
He did not ask if I was okay.
He waited.
I took a sip.
Ordinary.
Nothing happened.
Later a glass broke near the dance floor.
My heart jumped.
Adrian’s did too.
We looked at each other.
He said:
“Not touching anyone.”
“Good.”
We laughed.
At the end of the night, I placed the wedding ring beside my emergency medication for a photograph only I saw.
Not symbolic enough for publication.
Just private contrast.
One object represented choice.
May you like
One represented care.
Neither belonged to Victor.
