Chapter 66: Chapter 66

"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life."

-Lisa Weed-

***

Everybody was gathered at Desroches main manor, the place was crowded with family members of the Desroches, along with Clara and Dennis. It was new year already. Time had passed by so fast. Clara's recovery had been amazing. She was discharged from the hospital much faster than they had initially thought. The poison in her body had not completely gone yet and the doctor said they still needed to watch over her, in case she experienced any post medical issues. So far, she had been fine. Since they could not celebrate Christmas together, at least they could celebrate New Year together.

Originally, they wanted to go outside together and celebrate New Year at a hotel, but they cancelled the plan for Clara, she was still unsteady to go outside at the moment, and it was also his family's effort to make up for what happened to her, although it was not supposed to be a family matter, but Archard had wanted his son to gain a better chance at gaining Clara's forgiveness after hearing the full story from him, his son made a huge mistake for once in his life, and although he was unsure it was going to heal Clara from all the wound inflicted to her internally, Archard still wanted to do something for Raphael. Although a few other members had undoubtedly questioned his decision, but once Archard made up his mind, nobody could really change it.

Clara had just freshened herself up, she walked out of the bathroom and found her future sister in law sitting in front of her vanity. Celine was in Clara's bedroom when the guests had arrived, twisting her fingers around her hair to create a half up half down hairstyle. By Raphael's request, she had arrived earlier to help Clara getting ready and Celine, being the great sister she complied happily. An hour before the guest arrive, Clara was still looking awfully casual, Celine was nearly horrified by it but instead of lashing out, she helped her pick out something to wear, it was no easy decision to make in a snap of moment, but she eventually settled with a simple golden gown that had some Swarovski crystal embellishment across the center, forming a structured filigree shape.

Clara was used to doing her makeup by herself but that night Celine had offered to do it for her that evening, which was really kind of her. Once she was done with the makeup and the hair, Clara looked at herself in the mirror and she was compelled by the beauty before her. Celine was exceptionally skilled, she had turned Clara into a princess.

"You're now ready."

When they were outside. Clara became more and more nervous, she could hear chatters and laughter coming from downstairs, meaning that the guests had arrived. Celine noticed her nervousness and placed her hands on her shoulder, easing her nerves down.

"Trust me, they will love you." It was easier said than done. Right after they brought her home, Raphael told her about his plan. It was part of Raphael's plan, he had a crazy idea of introducing her to his family, part of it was meant to tie her down to him socially. A clever and mischievous way of ensuring Clara remained his, because for both families, social acknowledgement was highly important.

When they arrived at the rooftop, everyone had gathered there, the guests appeared like they were having fun, kids were playing tag with each other, while the teenagers were busy take pictures with each other. Raphael's presence however seemed to act as a magnet. Everyone's attention was suddenly directed at them, Clara felt slightly intimidated, she had only seen a few faces among them, the rest were total strangers to her.

Fortunately, she was pretty good at communicating with people, as the night went on she had her fair share of chattering with some of them, everyone seemed to like her just fine, sure, some had a better connection with her than the rest.

Desroches manor was a strategic place to celebrate new year, because not only was it the largest house among the family, the place also had a direct view to the Eiffel tower from the rooftop terrace. They had arranged a BBQ spot and everyone were in their semi-formal attire with grilled sausages and champignons and paprika in between.

It was not as formal as their christmas party, everyone could laugh whole heartedly, as loud as they wanted. The open space also helped to ease Clara's mind, she had not breathed fresh air in a while. The night was cold yet lively, everyone was wrapping themselves in their winter outfit and they set up a portable fireplace in the middle.

"Alright everyone, grab your champagne glass, and for kids, grab your grape juice, we are almost one minute away from midnight Everyone had circled around near the edge where they could visibly see the Eiffel tower.

One minute away from midnight, Celine set up a countdown alarm, all of them had their arms stretched out in the air, starting from ten seconds before midnight, they started counting down.

"Five... four... three... two... one... Happy New Year!" Everyone spoke in a rhyme. They made a toast and took a sip of their drink.

Fireworks were lit up and they exploded in the air near Eiffel Tower, different hues of red and green filled the night sky, each made a loud noise which brought smile upon people's face, it was more alive than daytime, claps and cheers of people in the town were loud enough to be heard from there.

Everyone celebrated their new year with their own tradition, this was his family's. Once they were done with the fireworks, they went to exchange conversations with each other, the whole atmosphere was just really bright and pleasant. As the evening went by, Clara was not as nervous anymore and she started to really enjoy herself.

Raphael had approached Clara when the countdown was over, he took a blanket and covered Clara's body with it.

"You don't have to do that." She said weakly.

"The tip of your finger is turning blue, Mon Amour." He knelt in front of her and took her hand in his, slowly he moved them over closer to his lips and blew them gently. Clara was blushing, not because of what he did, but because she had a few pair of eyes looking their way then. She was not used with PDA in front of family members.

"Clara there is something I need to tell you." He pulled out a jewellery box and opened it up, revealing an even larger ring than what she previously had. This time, the ring were embedded with one large diamonds in the middle, and two smaller diamonds on the side.

All of the sudden a light lit up behind her and she turned her head to see a large screen slowly coming out from an insert near the wall, and written there in all capital letters, "Clara, will you marry me?" The family members were not expecting that as well, only Archard Desroches knew of this, it was his plan after all, Darline turned to her husband with a shocked face followed by a smile, and slap her husband's chest proudly.

"I want to start everything over, and I am going to ask you one more time, Will you marry me?" Clara was not sure if she was supposed to be surprised, excited, or happy. Everyone were staring at her and she had to cover her face because of the embarrassment. She was slightly tearing up, and although it was the second time he purposed to her, this time it felt more real. It felt sincere.

She then realized what was missing in their relationships for the past months. It was mutual sincerity. All along Raphael had been pursuing her in a semi one sided manner, they were engaged before, but it was a forced situation for her. Now looking back at everything he had done, she came to a realization it was all for her sake. She did not have to feel like a prisoner with him anymore, she could actually just be Clara Bellavance whom Raphael fell in love with. Gone was every negative emotion she had experienced. It was all replaced by happiness. Tears of joy fell from her eyes and she nodded her head.

"Yes, yes, I'll marry you!" she leaped into his arms and he pulled her in

He took her hand in his own and inserted the ring into her finger. It had fit in perfectly, for it was customized just for her. He pulled her into a warm embrace once more and kissed her passionately in front of everyone, only this time, no one was judging, instead, everyone was cheering for them.

***

The party ended in a blink of an eye after all the guests had gone back home, so did Raphael and Clara, and that night she was sleeping in Raphael's room. Raphael who was extremely exhausted fell asleep almost as soon as they arrived. Yet Clara was wide awake, she had had enough sleep when she was in a coma. Instead, she was on the phone at four A.M, she was calling Corentin who at the time was also widely awake, with enthusiasm at hand she told everything that happened, Corentin on the other side had just went back home from celebrating New Years' Eve with his family.

He was leaning on his bed with a cup of coffee on his hand. He knew he was supposed to be happy for her, but he kept on clenching his chest every time Clara mentioned Raphael, and the worst part was he could not tell her about it, there was a tight feeling surrounding him, and he knew he should not feel that way, he was fighting it, yet he forced a smile on his face and tried to sound equally as happy as her.

"Clara, can I ask you a question?" Clara nodded from the other side.

"Are you happy?" Clara thought it was a silly question, of course she was happy, everything was falling into places where they were supposed to be, and she expressed it in the utmost honest way possible.

"That's good to hear. Be happy, Clara. That's all I ask for. If he ever treats you poorly again. Just tell me about it. I'll kill him then." Clara took it as a light matter and an expression of his concern for her, but Corentin himself did not know if he was just joking or being serious on the last part.

"Thank you, Corentin, you really are the best I could ask for. I am never going to have a best friend like you again in this lifetime. Gosh, now I'm sounding cheesy!"

Both were laughing. Only, Clara had no idea that Right, for Corentin, at least he would always be acknowledged by her as a best friend. He would not dare to ask for more than that. Finally, there was peace on their lives, there was no need to ruin it.

Because sometimes a laid back lasting peace was better than a brief force of actions leading to drastic change for one person's fulfillment. Corentin was selfless, and Clara appreciated it.

"When's the wedding date?"

"It's going to be held at the end of Spring, two weeks late from the original plan but we only need to modify the invitation, the rest have been taken care of. Don't worry, I'll personally hand it over to you" Corentin could not measure the irony of her words, as innocent as it was. He chuckled out of madness, covering his eyes with his fingers, massaging the center of his forehead.

She had no idea how much she was torturing him right then, but of course, he could not confront her on it. He did not want to ruin her happiness after all. It was exactly five A.M in the morning when Corentin decided to end the conversation.

"Go get some sleep Clara, I am sure he will take you somewhere today, you don't want to walk around the town looking like sleep derived zombie." He was right. She did need the sleep.

As soon as the phone was off, Clara followed his suggestion and pulled over the blanket to get herself some sleep. Only, she did not know. That would be the last phone conversation they would ever have.