"I should have listened to you," he said. Elias shook it. "Next time you will," he said, and kept walking. That night, back at the estate, Viven found him in the library, standing by the fire beneath her father's photograph. "The board wants to reward you," she said.
"A finders fee, 10% of the recovered funds. No, Elias, that's $40 million. I didn't do it for money. She stepped closer. Then why did you do it?
He turned and looked at her. For you? She did not say anything. She walked to the desk, opened the drawer, and took out the marriage contract, the one he had signed on Christmas Eve a year ago. She held it for a moment.
Then she tore it in half and in half again, and dropped the pieces into the fire. It's past midnight. The 28th of December, she said quietly. The year is over. I know.
She came to stand in front of him. So, do you want to leave? Elias looked at the fire, then at her. No. Vivienne reached up and slid the old sapphire ring from her finger. Her father's ring, her mother's before that.
The ring Elias had pulled out of the broken glass. And then the most powerful woman in the city knelt down on the library floor. "Elias stared at her, and for once in his life, he could not think of a single thing to say." "Elias Mercer," she said. Her voice was steady, but her hands were not.
"This time there's no contract, no shareholders, no will, no deadline, no father's letter, only me." She held up the ring. "Will you marry me?" Elias did not answer right away. He looked at the ring, then at her face lit gold by the fire.
"What if I stay poor?" He asked. "I didn't fall in love with your bank account. What if I don't want to live in a mansion? Then I'll come live in your apartment.
What if I'd rather fix boilers than sit in boardrooms?" A slow smile crossed her face. "Then I'll bring you coffee." Elias laughed. A real laugh, warm and startled, the first one she had ever heard from him that held no weariness at all.