Chapter 1161

Noreen looked at him, tears falling without warning.

She wasn’t a crier, but in that moment, it felt as if something had slammed into her chest. A suffocating wave of emotion washed over her, hot and overwhelming.

She gazed at him, seeing her own reflection in his eyes and the earnest, unwavering certainty on his face.

All the shadows of their past vanished into thin air.

She took a deep breath, fighting to blink back the dampness in her eyes.

“Seth,” she called his name softly, her voice raspy. “Do you know that you’re… really playing dirty?”

Seth lowered his head, pressing his lips to the corners of her eyes to catch her tears. “Don’t feel pressured. Just think of it as a Valentine’s Day gift.”

“I’m not forcing you to make a choice. I just wanted to give you something.”

His arms tightened around her. Resting his jaw against the top of her head, he could still feel the faint, imperceptible stiffness in her spine.

Resting his palm against her waist, his touch was incredibly light, as if he were afraid of breaking something fragile. When he spoke, his voice was hushed and steeped in the dark of the night.

“I’m the one who destroyed your trust. I’m the reason you don’t feel secure in relationships anymore, which is why I will never force you to choose. You can test me, string me along—take as long as you need.”

He rubbed his jaw gently against her hair. Softly. Tenderly.

As if repeatedly confirming that the woman in his arms was real.

“My promise is good forever.”

Noreen was already choked up, but hearing the deep rumble of his chest as he spoke finally brought her remaining defenses crashing down.

She tilted her face up and pressed a light, incredibly soft kiss against his lips.

For once, Seth didn’t deepen the kiss.

He simply tightened his hold around her waist.

Resting against his chest, Noreen listened to his steady heartbeat. She looked down

at the ring on her finger, her tone apologetic. “I didn’t even get you a gift.”

Seth let out a low chuckle. “I already got it.”

Assuming he meant the dinner she had cooked that afternoon, she immediately felt a rush of embarrassment.

While cleaning the kitchen earlier, Claire had actually taken someone else’s side for once. Her friend had warned her, “Sweetie, trust me. Your cooking should be weaponized against your enemies. Feeding it to our own people is practically treason.”

Yet Seth had eaten every last bite.

Noreen flushed. “My cooking is so awful that even my mom complains about it. But you ate all of it tonight. Did you actually think it tasted good, or were you just putting on a brave face to humor me?”

He chuckled, his knuckles lightly tracing down her back in a soothing rhythm. “Because the whole time l was eating, my mind was entirely on you. I didn’t even notice if it tasted

bad All I could think was that you I were willing to cook for me. Even if it was too salty or burnt to a crisp, it meant I was in your heart.”

So, Claire had been absolutely right when she called it a reward.

She had been downstairs for over an hour now; she really should be heading back

up.

But for the first time in a long while, a rare reluctance to leave settled over her.

Cuddled against his chest, her thumb subconsciously stroked the ring, sparking the memory of the ring she had thrown into the lake.

It was impossible to say she felt no regrets.

Her voice unconsciously grew muffled. “I was actually planning to propose to you before.”

She felt Seth’s breathing hitch for a fraction of a second.

“I even bought a ring. I searched for so long, terrified you wouldn’t think it was good enough.”

She let out a self-deprecating laugh. “But then things got so messy between us, and

we fell apart. I ended up throwing that ring away.”

She said it casually, but her eyelashes were trembling.

Seth’s arms tightened slowly around her. His Adam’s apple bobbed, his voice

turning incredibly hoarse. “…Where did you throw it?”