The Faceless Billionaire Celebrity Wife-Chapter 348: Come Here, Princess

She clicked the door shut and turned to Ethan, raising the hand where her engagement ring now sat.

"What is this, Ethan?"

Ethan didn’t reply immediately. Instead, he leaned his back against the door while a hint of nervousness crept onto his face.

"I fucked it all up, didn’t I? I should have known it will end this way," he murmured. "I’m sorry. I tried to check if you would hate a public proposal or would prefer a private one. It has hard trying to decrypt your answers but I thought... I’m so sorry I thought you were leaning more on the public’s side. What more? That must have been a crappy proposal. I’m so sorry, Princess... It’s just..."

Shikera stared at him, confusion written all over her face like he was speaking a language she could not understand.

"And what are you going on about, Honey?" she managed to ask, when no explanation seemed to be forthcoming.

Honey...

Ethan’s brow arched when he heard that. If Shikera still called him that, then it could only mean she wasn’t as angry as he thought, right?

"The proposal," he finally replied. "You hate it."

Shikera frowned. "Where did that come from?"

"You were displeased. You just asked... Wait, am I getting this all wrong?"

"You definitely are." Shikera sighed, still seeing the doubtful look in his eyes. "God, the proposal was perfect, Ethan! It was... I mean, it is a privilege to see your perfectly composed face reflecting anxiousness for once. And before the whole world? Perfect way to make the whole world think I was begged to marry you and I’m not just as smitten as you are." She gave him a look. "What? It’s not everyday that one has an Ethan DeLoach in love with her. I should flaunt mine as far and wide as possible. But here, Ethan," she raised her hand and showed him the ring finger, "I meant what is this? The ring."

"An engagement ring. Isn’t it obvious?"

"A Darry engagement ring," Shikera corrected with an exasperated sigh. "You don’t know what this ring means, right?"

Ethan blinked. "Isn’t it just like any other ring? It... I wanted to have one custom made, and I’m still on that, but this ring felt right. The message that it’s meant to pass across is exactly how I feel about you."

Shikera’s face started to curve into a smile at his words but she hurriedly tamped it down. Not now. She couldn’t afford to be selfish at this point.

She stepped forward, reluctantly slipping the ring off her hand and raising it up.

"This is a Darry ring, Ethan. A man can only buy one of it, once, in his lifetime, and it’s to be given to your one true love. Someone you are totally convinced you can spend the rest of your life with. That’s just how significant and important this ring is." She paused, letting the words sink in. "But as much as l love this, and really want to shout out to the world that I got a Darry ring from someone I also want to spend the rest of my life with, I can’t be selfish."

Ethan’s face was marred with confusion. 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

"Selfish as in?"

"I mean, if I had to date or marry someone and I found out he’s given another woman he once dated a Darry ring, it would hurt. So bad—"

As he watched her talk and noticed the anxious way she shifted from foot to foot. He got it. And he let out a small chuckle.

"This isn’t funny, Ethan," Shikera chided.

"Didn’t say it was," Ethan shrugged.

She glared at him. "As I was saying, it would hurt me if I found out—"

Ethan interrupted her, "Good thing you won’t have to date that ’someone’, don’t you think? You accepted my proposal and you’re marrying me. There’s also no way I’m letting you go, so rest assured about having to find someone who would give you his Darry ring. You already have mine."

"You don’t get it, do you?" Shikera sighed.

"I don’t think I need to," he deadpanned.

"Well, I think you need to. What if everything goes wrong and you..." she hesitated, blinking back the tears that were starting to pool in her eyes. "And you have to..." she stopped again. One tear slid down her face, and she turned her face away from him so he couldn’t see.

"Date another woman? Marry another woman?" Ethan completed the sentence for her. "If everything goes wrong, Kera, would you want me to marry someone else?"

Shikera hesitated for two seconds, and then shook her head.

"Can you see me dating another woman in your absence?" he asked again.

"It hurts to think of that."

"Then, I won’t. Not just because I wouldn’t have a life without you beside me, not because there’s no me without your light leading me, but also because... I really can’t. You think any woman would be courageous enough to drag me out of the gloom you met me? Even if there was, it’s still a no, Kera, because my heart loves darkness... except the light is yours."

Still avoiding his intense gaze, Shikera asked, "You don’t think I’m selfish?"

Ethan extended his arms, "Come here, Princess. You aren’t going anywhere without me."

★★★

Ethan stared down at her soft brown hair, completely speechless as she bawled into his chest. One thing was sure though; these weren’t tears of sadness, pain... or anything on the same line. His chest would have tightened if that were the case. So he simply did what he knew how to do best, wrap his hands tightly around her and hold her close.

Shikera cried through the short journey back to the hospital and only began sniffling when the car pulled up in the hospital’s underground garage.

’’Want to get dinner first before going up?’’ Ethan asked, indirectly trying to know if she would prefer to stay in the car for a few minutes more or would like to go straight to her room—the private room.