“What did you just say?” Liora asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

For a moment, she wondered if she had misheard him. Maybe her mind was playing tricks on her. Maybe everything happening right now was too overwhelming, too unreal.

Ashvin couldn’t have just asked her that.

But then he looked at her again—steady, unwavering.

“Marry me, Liora.”

This time, she heard it clearly. There was no mistaking it. And beneath the firmness in his voice, there was something else… something softer. Almost