Chapter 109

I'm unable to think coherently after the words Alessandro uttered a few seconds ago.

My heart is racing uncontrollably as I search his face desperately for a hint of a joke that might tell me this isn't real. But that doesn't happen. He remains serious and expectant, waiting for a response.

I'm speechless and paralyzed. I'm trying to process his request over and over again. I never thought he would ask me this again, much less in this moment.

I'm afraid because the last time he proposed, it didn't take long for everything to fall apart and I realized it had been more about my desire to get married than his own.

I didn't want him to propose just to fulfill my wishes.

"You're playing with me, aren't you?" I managed to say at last.

"I wouldn't joke about something you've wanted for so long," he replies with the same seriousness.

But contrary to what one might think his response would evoke in me, the truth is that it disappoints me to hear it.

"Are you asking me to marry you just becaus