Three months later, the world had adjusted.
The scandal burned hot, then fizzled as the media found fresher meat. Vanessa's company survived—smaller, leaner, but still powerful. Some investors fled, but new ones arrived, drawn by her boldness. Fashion Week invited her to headline. Her defiance had become her brand.
And Ethan?
Ethan stayed.
He didn't just stay—he grew.
He started his own project, a small startup focused on ethical clothing manufacturing, backed quietly by Vanessa. He worked from the penthouse office she once kept for guests. Now it was his.
Their love wasn't perfect. It never had been.
They argued. Fought.
Vanessa sometimes retreated into herself, and Ethan had to coax her back.
Ethan sometimes doubted his place in her world, and Vanessa had to remind him with a glance, a word, a touch.
But it was real.
And they both knew it.
---
One evening, as autumn painted New York in gold and rust, Ethan stood barefoot on the rooftop terrace. Vanessa came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.
"Do you regret it?" she asked, chin on his shoulder.
He turned, brushing her cheek with his lips.
"Not one second."
"I thought I'd lose everything," she murmured. "But I gained you."
"You didn't gain me," he whispered. "You set me free. And I did the same for you."
She studied him in silence for a long moment.
Then pulled a small box from her coat pocket.
Ethan blinked. "Vanessa...?"
"I don't believe in fairy tales," she said. "But I believe in claiming what's mine."
She opened the box. A simple silver band, engraved with two words:
No Rules.
Ethan laughed softly, eyes misting.
"Are you proposing?"
"I'm asking you to build a life with me. However we want. No scripts. No shame."
He slipped the ring on.
"No aunt. No labels," she whispered. "Just us."
He kissed her. The wind stirred around them, carrying away the last whispers of judgment.
And beneath the stars, in the city that once condemned them, they rewrote their story.
Together.