Chapter 27 and Final

Maya flung open the door to the room and saw her suspicions confirmed: her little Nina was there, laughing with Alex, who was lying on a white hospital bed. Maya said angrily, "I can't believe it. You ungrateful little girl. Instead of looking for me and seeing me, you go straight to visit him as soon as you get back from the airport?"

Alex furrowed his brows and asked, "What do you mean, 'him'?"

Nina, approaching Maya with a smile, said, "Sorry, I was actually on my way to see you," and then stood on tiptoe to wrap her arms around Maya's neck.

Maya hugged her tightly, bending over her and whispering, "I missed you, my little redhead. I missed you so much."

Nina responded, "Oh, what should I say? I was enjoying myself, but I missed you too, Mom. You know, I've decided that I can't live without you, so I'll move in with you if you marry."

Maya pulled away, astonished, and asked, "Where did you get this idea about marriage?"

Nina laughed as she left the room, "I'm just saying."

Alex watched Nina leave and then looked at Maya, examining her right hand, which was covered with a medical cast extending from her palm to midway up her arm. He asked slowly, "How's your hand?"

Maya replied sarcastically, holding it up in front of him, "I'll be like this for three months, thanks to you, of course."

Alex said with a smirk, "I could say the same about my leg."

Maya snapped, "Shut up! I saved your life."

He retorted, "That’s what I was trying to do as well—saving your life."

She exclaimed with annoyance, "I didn’t need you."

He replied seriously, "But I needed you, so I had to keep you safe."

She fell silent, disturbed, and he added with a smile, "Wow, your face is red."

She stared at him, suspicious, and asked, "You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?"

He answered cheerfully, "To the fullest." Then he picked up a small blue box beside him and said casually, "If you remember, in a scene like this, you gave me a box like this, and now I’m returning it to you." He threw it towards her.

She caught it with her left hand. It was the box she had used to put Frederick’s bullet in and gave it to him. Now, it was no longer needed. She turned toward the small trash can by the door, and before throwing the box away, she opened it for a final look and froze when she saw a diamond wedding ring with a green emerald in the center.

She swallowed several times, pressing her lips which were starting to tremble violently. She kept staring at the ring until her eyes welled up with tears, and she could no longer see. Then she choked back her sobs, and finally, she raised her head, trying to swallow the lump in her throat.

Alex sighed quietly, watching her back. A soft smile formed on his lips as he saw her wipe her eyes and lift her head. He lowered his gaze slightly, then raised it and said in a rough voice, "I’m waiting."

She wiped her eyes for the third time, then struggled to clear her throat before saying with a tearful voice without turning to him, "Aren’t you supposed to get down on one knee first?"

He replied neutrally, "I would have if a certain woman hadn’t shot at me."

She took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly. Feeling a bit composed, she turned to him and asked arrogantly, "Why should I marry you?"

A semi-smile appeared on his lips. Maya was back to being his Maya. He raised his hand and said, "First tell me if you like the ring."

She glanced quickly at the ring before answering honestly, "It’s beautiful."

He agreed, "I liked it too a little while ago."

She raised her eyebrows and repeated, "A little while ago?"

Alex clarified, "I didn’t buy it. Well, I paid for it, of course, but Nina chose it for you."

She muttered, "Nina!"

He continued simply, "Two days ago, I sent her my credit card and asked her to pick a wedding ring for you. I knew that no one would know what suits you like Nina does."

Maya tilted her head slightly and then said, realizing, "I’ll move in with you if you marry! So that’s what she meant."

Alex sighed, "Yes, unfortunately, I discovered that this girl can’t keep secrets. Also, did you know she bought herself a pearl necklace with my money? I regret not giving my card to you."

Maya laughed and then said insistently, "Back to the question, why should I marry you?"

He replied vaguely, "You mean why should I marry you?"

She asked sarcastically, "Really?"

He answered innocently, "Yes. I’m the only victim in this marriage. Do you know what I’m getting myself into by marrying you? First, you don’t have a brain. Second, although my children will inherit my intellect, they will definitely inherit your stubbornness and defiance. Third, I’ll have to deal with a highly opportunistic daughter who also wants to live with us. Fourth, I’ll need to hire a personal bodyguard to be with me all day because of your strong inclination toward violence. Fifth, I’ll be sleeping in a bulletproof vest because you handle guns like you handle coffee. And the list goes on, but I’ll stop here."

She pouted and said with mockery, "Since I have these wonderful qualities, what makes you want to marry me?"

He feigned weakness and said, "Sacrificing for my male siblings. If I don’t marry you, someone else will, and I don’t want them to suffer…"

He was interrupted when he heard a knock on the door, and Frederick entered behind him.

Maya said happily as she walked over to Frederick, "This is the only man I love, but unfortunately, he’s going to marry someone else," and hugged him.

Frederick wrapped her in his arms, joking, "I’ll leave Sonia and run away with you if you want."

Maya pulled away, replying, "That sounds tempting, but I know Sonia would turn into a corpse before we even board the plane." Then she added, "I came to see you a while ago, but you were asleep."

Frederick said with a smile, "If you had been imprisoned by Madoff for three days, you’d know I need every minute of rest." Then he turned to Alex and asked, "How are you, hero?"

Alex replied, "Considering Madoff is dead, I couldn’t be in a better condition than now."

Frederick remembered, "Oh, right, darling. I was told you shot Madoff with five bullets. Why? One bullet would have been enough to take his life."

Maya laughed and answered, "I know, but I owed him five bullets. One for killing my father, one for killing Kal, a third for injuring Bernard, a fourth for hitting Bob, and the last one for injuring Alexander three years ago."

Frederick exclaimed, "Wow... Remind me not to step on your toes, darling. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I want to visit Bernard." He walked to the door, opened it, and turned to Maya with a mischievous smile, "Darling, just in case something happens, know that no one will present you to the groom but me." Then he hurried out.

Maya stared at the door in shock, then turned to Alex and asked mockingly, "Does everyone in the world know about your marriage proposal?"

Alex defended himself, "I didn’t say a word, but I think Krik and Nina did the job. Now, repeat the question."

She asked, "What question?"

"Last question you asked me before Frederick came in."

"You mean, why do you want to marry me?"

"Yes, ask me!"

"Why?"

"Just humor me and ask."

"Why do you want to marry me?"

He looked at her for a long time and then smiled, answering in a voice full of love, "Because I love you. Because I love you, Maya Fawn. Because I love everything about you—your madness excites me, your strength attracts me, your tenderness affects me, your beauty fascinates me, the green of your eyes overwhelms me. Because I melt in love with you, because—"

Maya silenced his remaining words by cupping his face with her hands and kissing his lips gently and softly. Then she lifted her face from his and wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly while sitting on the edge of his bed. He embraced her shoulders with his arms, pulling her close, closing his eyes as he buried his face in her brown hair with blonde streaks, breathing in her scent with all his love.

She pulled away slightly, looked into his deep blue eyes filled with love, and said with heartfelt emotion, "One last question: What did you mean when you said you’ve always loved me?"

He sighed with a laugh and said, "I knew you wouldn’t forget. Well, maybe I’ve loved you since the day Krik called me in to interrogate a woman they had arrested."

Her eyes widened in disbelief, and she whispered, "You’re lying."

He replied gently, "Look into my eyes, and you’ll see I’m completely honest."

She said in shock, "You treated me so coldly! Made me confess my love for you! Made me feel humiliated