Chapter 14
Marcus and I had been together for three years.
We had built three shelters together.
The foundation had helped over two thousand women.
My consulting firm had doubled in size.
I was happy. Truly, deeply happy.
One evening, Marcus took me to dinner at the restaurant where we had our first date.
After dinner, we walked through the park.
We stopped under a large oak tree.
He knelt down.
My breath caught.
He pulled out a small box.
"Claire Bennett. I know you've been asked to kneel before. And I know what that meant. So I'm kneeling for you. Not to humiliate you. To honor you. You are the strongest, bravest, most generous woman I have ever known. And I want to spend the rest of my life building shelters and homes and a future with you. Will you marry me?"
I cried.
"Yes. Yes. A thousand times yes."
He put the ring on my finger.
And then he stood up and hugged me.
And I realized.
This was what love was supposed to feel like.
Not control. Not humiliation. Not theft.
May you like
Respect. Partnership. Equality.
I had finally found it.
