One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 196: Chapter 196

The mansion had never seen such light.
Ten years of triumph and heartbreak shimmered in golden hues as the estate transformed into a living memoir. Lanterns danced from tall oak trees, lights flickered like candlelit promises, and the marble floors of the main ballroom reflected the very soul of the family who had once walked them—shattered, rebuilt, and glowing again.
The gala was open.
Damien stood in the grand foyer, tux crisp, tie undone just slightly, giving him the air of a king who still believed in humility. Guests filtered in—friends, allies, and even former rivals from every season of their journey.
Arielle descended the staircase slowly, and the room hushed.
She wore a gown in deep midnight blue, embroidered with constellations of gold thread—every star a symbol. Eight stars glimmered along her shoulder: her children. One brighter at her heart: Damien.
He took her hand. Kissed her knuckles. “You are the moment.”
She smiled. “We are the legacy.”
Julian guided guests into the hall, where chairs curved in a semicircle around a stage lovingly built by Aiden and Zane. Lily’s hand-painted backdrops stole breaths. Ava tuned her guitar behind the curtain. Leila paced barefoot backstage. Amara calmed her by humming.
Skylar, dressed in a white linen shirt and a tiny headset, nodded. “Lights in ten.”
The music began—soft strings, building like memory.
The curtain rose.
Ava stepped into the spotlight first. Her voice, trembling but true:
> “Once upon a lullaby, You tucked away my fears. You sang before the world could break me, And caught all my lost years.”
From the second line, Damien’s eyes misted.
Arielle reached for his hand.
The performance unraveled like thread from the heart.
Julian narrated moments of chaos turned calm. Leila danced through shadows and light. Zane delivered a monologue about identity—one that had the entire room breathless.
> “Not every child is born from you, But some are called to you by destiny. And I found mine in your arms.”
Damien wept openly.
A surprise segment came from the guests.
A flash montage: clips from Seasons 1 through 4—Damien's courtroom standoff, Arielle’s hospital birth scene, the family’s hidden-island retreat, the moment Lily said her first word on live television.
Gasps. Applause. Nostalgia washed over them.
The final act was a group number.
> “Eight hearts, One Queen. We are the pages, You are the ink between.”
> “You are the courage in our choices, The lullaby in our storm, The reason we broke the mold, The reason we are more.”
Arielle stood as the final note soared.
Not because protocol demanded it.
But because her children had risen.
And now—so did she.
She walked to the stage. Her heels echoed like punctuation.
Each child knelt.
Damien joined them, this time not beside her, but one step behind.
She took the mic.
“My crown… was never gold. It was you.”
The standing ovation roared.
The curtain didn’t fall.
It flew open to a future they had already begun to write.