Take My Breath Away

As soon as Wesley said goodbye, he sensed someone else in the room. He looked inside and his eyes widened.

"Honey? Why are you here?" He quickly strode towards Blair and wrapped her in his arms. "You're still sick. You shouldn't have come here."

Blair raised her head to look at him with a smile. "I'm feeling fine. I came to check on Miss Zhuge. Wesley, how could you let her stay in such a lousy hotel?"

Without even looking at Stella, he replied, "I have no money."

Blair glared at him with feigned anger. "Liar! If you didn't have any money, then how could you afford to buy me that expensive bracelet?"

"Well, I spent it all. Now shush! You're not fully recovered yet. You shouldn't be talking too much. Let's go home." Wesley scooped her up in his arms.

"Okay." She locked her arms around his neck and pecked him on the cheek.

They started making their way towards the door. When they passed Stella, Wesley said, "Miss Zhuge, after the group-buying discount, the room cost $507 for the past three days. We'll round that amount to $500. And the three meals came up to $45. So, that's $545. Please return the money as soon as possible."

"Wesley! You!" Stella's blood boiled with rage and humiliation.

"What? Did you think I was doing all this out of the goodness of my heart?" Wesley smirked.

Blair tried to stifle her laughter. "Darling, it's just a few hundred bucks. Let's just think of it as a little financial help for Miss Zhuge."

"All right, honey. If you say so." He carried Blair out of the hotel and to the parking lot.

Gently, he placed her in the passenger seat and buckled her up. She looked irresistibly attractive today. Wesley leaned towards her for a kiss.

But Blair covered his mouth with her hand.

Only then did he notice that the smile had vanished from her face. 'I knew it!

I knew she was only pretending as if she didn't care, ' he thought.

"Explain. Don't tell me this was a mission! I won't buy it," she demanded. If it had been some other woman in that hotel, Blair might have thought it possible. But it was Stella.

"No, it wasn't a mission," he admitted.

'I knew it!' she thought, her lips pouting and her cheeks bulging with anger. "After the Zhuge family's company went out of business, Stella and her mom came here.

She had been trying to get close to me ever since," Wesley explained. He had sensed something fishy about her the day they had come across her in the alley.

To figure out what she was up to, he had played along and had gotten her a room in the hotel.

After that, Stella continued to contact him and asked to see him every day.

"Why did she want to get close to you?"

"I checked her out. Turns out she has joined an illegal organization and has become their spy. She is trying to get some information out of me."

Blair covered his mouth and said, "Okay. That's enough. I believe you." It was work-related. She never pried into his work because she knew it was confidential.

Wesley held her hand, a bit worried. "Really? You believe me?"

The look on his face made her want to laugh. She kissed him on the cheek and assured, "You bet. Honey, I'm beat. Can we go home?"

Wesley was relieved to hear her words. She trusted him. He stood up and saluted her. "Yes, ma'am!"

Then one day, Wesley told her that he had found proof and had turned Stella in. Her backers were arrested as well.

Stella was sentenced to death and was executed soon after. Blair was astounded by the news. But Wesley had spoken of it in a casual tone, as if he were telling a story. '

Probably because he has witnessed too many deaths, ' she told herself.

Summer kissed them goodbye and fall arrived with open arms. Wesley decided to take Blair on a hike in the suburb.

Despite not being fully recovered yet, Blair was able to finish the first half of the hike. But after that, she became exhausted and couldn't go on.

Wesley refused to linger. He carried her on his back and continued on until they reached the summit.

There were troops stationed at the summit. They knew Wesley. Seeing him and Blair, they gathered around and greeted them warmly.

Wesley settled Blair down in a room and then walked outside to talk to the soldiers.

He didn't come back until around ten minutes later. "Are you well rested?" he asked, squatting down next to her.

Blair nodded.

"Then, let me show you around."

"Okay."

She followed him out of the room. There was not much to see. Blair had visited the army base in Y City while Wesley was still working there. She didn't see much difference.

When they reached the flag-raising platform, Wesley grabbed her hand and took her to the flagstaff. They stood under the national flag which was dancing gracefully in the wind.

Blair was confused. She looked around and asked, "Wesley, why did you bring me here?"

"To ask you to marry me." He took out a box from his pocket and went on one knee. He slowly opened the box and raised the ring in front of her.

It was all so sudden. Blair had thought that he wouldn't propose to her again because she had turned him down last time.

"Blair, I said I would keep proposing to you until you said yes." She had finally woken up from her coma, and their son was almost two years old. It was time.

Blair gasped. They were in a playground. There was nobody else around them. "Why here?" she asked.

She didn't know this, but they were not alone. The soldiers had hidden themselves to watch Wesley propose to her.

He looked up at the national flag. "I thought I belonged to the country and the people. I never wanted a family. I was afraid that I was incapable of making anyone happy."

But ever since Blair walked into his life, he realized that he was wrong. He wanted her to be happy. And he now knew that he could make her happy.

He was grateful that they had met and had ended up together.

And Wesley knew that he would regret it for the rest of his life if he let her go.

"What made you change your mind?" Blair asked with a smile.

"You. I love you. I want you to be happy. Blair, will you marry me?" Worried that she would turn him down again, Wesley had sent everybody away and made the playground theirs alone.

Eyes brimming with tears, Blair asked, "Didn't you secretly get our marriage certificates years ago?"

"I didn't intend to keep it from you. I wanted to give it to you as a surprise. But you threw the certificates away." Wesley's voice was low.

'I threw them away? When?' Blair reflected. Then she remembered that he had once given her a file and she had thrown it away angrily.

It was a long time ago. Wesley thought that she might not remember it anymore. So he continued, "That day, I gave you an envelope containing our marriage certificates. But you discarded it without even looking inside." He had been heartbroken back then.