TURN OF FATE, cl16

56.

CHAPTER FIFTY SIX.
ABU DHABI.

The Yas Marina Circuit shimmered under the golden glow of the setting sun, the city skyline standing tall against the horizon. The air carried the salty tang of the sea, blending with the distant roar of engines as the final race weekend of the season loomed.

It was going to be Charles' last race with Ferrari. A chapter closing, another waiting to be written.

But tonight? Tonight wasn't about racing.

Tonight was about her.

Dariyah had no idea what Charles had planned. She thought they were heading for a quiet dinner— a rare moment of peace before the madness of the race day. But instead, the car veered off the main roads, taking them down a private path lined with soft lights and flickering lanterns.

"Charles..." she murmured, her fingers tightening around his as the car stopped.

He didn't say anything. Just smiled.

Charles opened the door for her, and as she stepped out, her breath caught.

A private beach. The softest, whitest sand stretched before her, illuminated by hundreds of lanterns casting a golden glow. A pathway of delicate rose petals led toward a beautifully set-up space— a wooden canopy adorned with fairy lights, cushions and a low dining table decorated with white roses and sea-shells spilled all around.

"Charles, what are we doing?" Dariyah turned back to see him, nowhere to be seen, "Charles?"

Dariyah not knowing what to do just kept walking and sat on the soft cushion— admiring the decor. It was really cute and the fairy lights were hung with polaroids of Charles and hers taken all over the time they spent together, he even managed to find the one of when they were kids in the Abu Dhabhi race— Uncle Hervè had taken it.

Dariyah feeling a bit emotional as she reminisced all the memories that the photos held. She turned around once she heard the familiar melody. She stepped out to see Lando and Rishi— dressed up as waiters.

"Here is the menu, ma'am. What would you like to have?" Lando— the waiter asked, with full seriousness.

"What's going o—"

"One Mac N Cheese, one butter chicken and Naan coming up!" Rishi suddenly claimed as the two walked off without no sort of explanation.

"Here's your drink, ma'am." Dariyah turned around to see Sneha pouring her a glass of sweet lime juice— Dariyah's favourite. "Sne—" even this time she didn't get an explanation.

"Here's your food, ma'am." This time, it was Carlos who served her the dishes with a card. He winked at her before leaving too.

Dariyah blinked down at the card, her fingertips brushing the elegant, familiar scrawl. Her heart swelled with every word as she read.

The past brought us here,
The present made me fall in love with you all over,
But the future? The future is what I want to write with you— forever.

Dariyah swallowed the lump in her throat, trying to steady the smile and the tremble in her hands. Before she could even realise, soft footsteps approached from behind, slow and deliberate, each one echoing across the quiet beach like a heartbeat.