She Proposed Marriage to Silent Rancher to Stop Her Aunt—He Said Yes Before She Finished Asking
Chapter 7
The wedding was set for October.
Autumn arrived with golden leaves and cold mornings.
Clara began to feel nervous.
Not about the wedding.
About how much she loved Elias.
She had originally asked him to marry her because she needed protection.
Now she realized she would have married him even if her aunt had never existed.
One evening, she found him sitting beneath an oak tree.
“Elias?”
He looked up.
“I need to tell you something.”
“What?”
“I don’t want this marriage anymore.”
His expression froze.
Clara smiled.
“Because I don’t want it to be an arrangement.”
She stepped closer.
“I want it to be real.”
Elias stood.
“It is.”
“No.”
She took his hand.
“I want you to know that if I had met you without my aunt, without the inheritance, without the threat of Mr. Pembroke…”
She smiled.
“I would still choose you.”
Elias pulled her into his arms.
For the first time, he kissed her without hesitation.
And Clara realized she had never been running toward marriage.
She had been running toward him.
