I smiled at him. I felt warm and giddy. A year ago, I was bent on waiting for marriage before I share myself with a man. And I was so much against men with power, fame and money. Now, I've broken all the rules and put all my bets on a man who is... the epitome of what I didn't believe in when I was younger.

But I believe in him, the way that he believes in me. I believe in our love. After all, it has gone through a lot... but still... it stands strong and it burns bright.

"You really want this, don't you?"

He nodded. "I promised you I will make up for the past months that I behaved like an asshole. And it will be easier to do that if you live with me. So I can show you every day, every night... just how sorry I really am... and how desperately I want you to forget how much I've hurt you." His words touched my heart.

New York is a huge and scary city but I know I'm making the right decision. "I'm scared, Ryder. Manhattan is huge! What if I fail?"

Ryder chuckled. "For a woman who doesn't have to work a day in her life anymore, you worry too much."

I raised a brow at him. "I'm not rich like you, Ryder. I need to stretch my legs if I want to eat."

He pulled me towards him and kissed my forehead. "Ahh! Are you forgetting who's taking care of you now, love?"

I laughed. "Ryder... I don't want to have this argument anymore."

"Luckily, neither did I." He said. I pulled away from him so I can stare into his eyes. "I love you, Ash. And I will take care of you. Let me. You can work on your company as a hobby if you want. But everything that you will ever need... I will take care of it. You don't have to worry. All I ask in return... is for you to stay with me."

Tears welled up in my eyes, as I hear him pledge those words to me. I may have a lot of stubborn beliefs in the past, but now, I know that none of them matters anymore. I will do everything to make Ryder happy too. And he was right. We have to find a balance in our relationship. So I nodded. "I love you, Ryder."

He smiled at me. "I love you, Astrid. And I mean it. Your ever after has just begun."

The next afternoon, I met with my friends at Oil Rig. I haven't seen them since Ryder came back. They were actually worried when I moved out of Adam's house.

"Are you sure you are okay?" Nicole asked.

"I'm perfect!" I said, smiling. "He's back you know."

They sighed in relief.

"We actually kind of know. We just weren't sure and we didn't want to give you false hopes... just in case it was... false alarm." John said.

I smiled at them. "Thank you, guys! Thanks for sticking with me all throughout these years. I must have been a lot to handle."

Dannie laughed. "Yeah, you are! But it would have been very boring without you! You give our lives a whole different level!"

I laughed too. Then tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered that I will leave them soon. I surely will miss them.

I looked at Nicole. "Are you still interested to work for me?" I asked.

"Is the sky blue?" She asked. "Of course! I can start like yesterday! Fiona is about to fire my ass because I'm best friends with you!"

"Good! Coz I need you to start this week." I said to her.

Her eyes widened. "You're kidding, right?"

I shook my head. "I want you to manage this branch, Nic."

She was excited at first but then her smile faded. "Wh... what are you going to do?"

I smiled at them. "I'm moving to Manhattan, guys." I croaked. It makes me sad that I will be away from them, but I know I cannot live without Ryder too.

"Are you breaking up with us?" Asked Dannie crossly.

I laughed. "Of course not! But... it's gonna be a long-distance relationship for us." I sighed. "Ryder asked me to live with him. And... he insisted on not pulling out his investment in my company, so I decided to use that to branch out in Manhattan."

"Wow! A year ago, you refused to even sleep with Bryan, until you are married. And now... you're going to live with a man! Talk about moral slip." Dannie teased.

I laughed. "I know. I found it ironic too. But somehow, I realized that this is not a question of moral values. Love does get in the way of our principles and beliefs. I guess what I had with Bryan wasn't strong enough to break through my pedantic beliefs. But with Ryder... I gave in the first night we were together. We have this passion that is stronger than both of us. He tried to stop it too... because he didn't want to take advantage of my weakness then. But somehow, we both just fall through. But you know, Ryder and I have more than passion too. We believe in each other. We also have faith, trust and friendship."

Nicole was already crying and Dannie's eyes were brimming with tears too.

"Sweetheart... we will miss you. But I know... after all you and Ryder have been through... you deserve this." Dannie said.

"I will take care of your company here, Ash." Nicole said. "You'll be so proud of me!" She giggled in spite of her tears.

John ruffled my hair. "How often are you going to visit?"

I laughed. "Once a week or at least once every two weeks. Ryder owns two bars here, remember?"

We were all sad, but I know my friends are not holding me back. After all that's happened to me since I dumped Bryan, I deserve this. I deserve to go after my happily ever after.

After meeting with my friends, I asked Dannie to drop me off at Adam's house. I called up Ryder and told him where I will be. He promised to pick me up after he's done with what he needed to do at Oil Rig.

Adam was startled when I appeared on his deck again.

"Jesus Christ, Astrid!" He breathed.

I laughed and then I reached up and kissed his cheek. Then I wrapped my arms around his waist and rested my head against his chest. I couldn't help crying. I will sure miss Adam a lot.

"Are you happy, Ash?" He asked, wrapping an arm around my shoulders.

I nodded. "Very."

"You will shine in Manhattan too, Ash. You can do this." He said.

I looked up at him. "How did you know I was moving to Manhattan?"

He raised a brow. "I'm Van Woodsen's lawyer in Malibu, remember?" He replied. "I'm required to know everything that goes on in his life here." He smiled. "Plus, he called and told me already. He promised me that you will be taken care of, and I need not worry. Plus, I was assured you will come to Malibu once a week anyway, so this is not really goodbye."

I smiled at him. "Thank you Adam." I told him. "In a way, you've been the bridge between Ryder and me. You were the one who helped me find the love of my life. If you didn't offer to pay my date for Geena's wedding, I would not have met Ryder." I pulled away from him. "You're a great guy, if only you choose to show it. You have a good heart."

He frowned. "Yeah, but don't go telling people about it, okay?"

I laughed and I hugged him again. "I love you, Adam. We may not be related by blood, but you're the best cousin a girl can ever ask for."

It took him a moment to hug me back. And then he said, "Thanks, Ash. You're not too bad yourself. And I love you too. Be happy okay?"

I smiled. And I know, with Ryder, Adam can be assured of that. "You know I will be."

One month later...

Although my parents and my relatives know that Ryder and I are living together, they still didn't know that during Geena's wedding, Ryder and I were only pretending. And until now, they still believe we are engaged. I once told Ryder that maybe it's better that I tell my parents that the engagement was sort of a sham so our relatives will not feel sorry for me. Then Ryder and I fell in love afterwards and we are together now. But Ryder thought it was a bad idea.

"Being engaged to me was probably one of the things that drove Bryan mad, and for you to tell them that it was a lie... would break your parents' hearts. As well as your Uncle Jack's. Leave it be, Ash. We're living together anyway. We pulled it off before when we weren't officially dating. I think we'd do better now."

So we left it at that. I wondered what we were going to do if my parents come down for a visit and I'm not wearing any ring anymore. But I guess, we'll just make something up when we get there.

Ryder's apartment was lush and luxurious, but somehow, I couldn't help feeling that it was more a bachelor's pad. He did have it when he was a bachelor, but he's not exactly single now. I prefer the house in Malibu, which is really a house, with separate rooms, living room, and a deck.

I guess even though his apartment was huge, a part of me prefers a smaller, cozy apartment that feels more like two people are making a home out of it. But I am not really complaining. It's such a small price to pay for being with Ryder.

Nicole has taken over my responsibilities in Malibu and I kept myself busy with setting up the branch in Manhattan. Ryder and I visit Malibu once a week together, where he conducts his business at his bars and I check up with Nicole in the office.

Today is exactly a month after Ryder and I got back together... a month after he found his way back to me.

We are travelling back to Malibu. I plan to surprise him with dinner. We can lie on the deck afterwards, drink some beer... he can play his guitar if he wants. Then we'll make love at night.

An hour before we were due to go to the airport, Ryder gave me a call and told me that he can't make it to Malibu.

"But Ryder, we agreed to go last week." I said, a little disappointed, especially since his tone says that he has forgotten what day it was today.

"Sweetheart, I'm in the middle of a meeting." He said to me, he sounded like he was in a hurry. "I'll see you tonight. Call me when you've landed back in Manhattan."

"What?" I thought I'd be staying in Malibu this weekend. "I'm going to take the last flight out?"

"The five p.m. flight out, love. Promise me you'll be back?" He asked.

I was not happy about that. But I don't want to fight with him. With a disappointed sigh, I replied, "Okay."

"Look, I have to go. I'm quite busy today. I'll see you tonight."

Has it started already? Has he started being too busy to remember anniversaries or special occasions?

I only have a couple of hours in Malibu and I made the most of my stay. I was not in a great mood when I met Dannie, Nicole and John. I only had a couple of minutes to ring Adam.

Ryder didn't give me a call all day, nor sent me a text message. He usually sends me messages every two hours, telling me he loves me and that he misses me. Today is the first day he didn't. And it's only a month since we survived his tragic memory loss.

I got back to New York in the evening and although I was tired and a little unhappy, I have no plans of spoiling this day. I will cook a nice dinner for the two of us anyway. We're going to celebrate today, no matter what.

When I got inside the apartment, a red envelope on the table caught my attention. It was sitting beside one of Ryder's car keys. I usually don't pry on his stuff, but this envelope just seems to call out to me. It looked elegant, and it smelled of floral perfume. There was a note inside.

"I was hoping you could come to see me..." Printed in a neat script font.

There was a location map attached to it, as well as what seems to be an access card.

"Ryder!" I called.

No answer.

Now, I'm getting nervous. I've only lived with Ryder for about a month. Maybe one of his old flames didn't know he was already living with someone and attempted to have a little tryst with him.

Ryder would never do this to me! Besides, if he's up to no good, he wouldn't carelessly leave this note for me to find, right?

But whatever is going on, I intend to find out. I took my phone and dialed his number. His phone is off. I tried about three more times just in case he just lost signal. But still it was off.

I took short breaths to calm myself down. I called his office. Derek, his assistant, answered.

"It's seven in the evening." I told him. "You should be home."

He laughed. "But I'm fresh out of college and already a workaholic. What can I do for you, lovely Ash?"

"Where's Ryder?"

"Ah..." He took a moment to answer. "He... went off more than an hour ago. Said he has some personal things to attend to down at Sixth. I thought... he was with you."

"Thanks Derek." I said and the I hung up.

My hands were turning numb fast. I looked at the location map and found that the "X" on it is in Sixth Avenue. The address says penthouse.

Ryder would never cheat on me!