Chapter 9 - The Woman I Planned to Marry Arrived at My Door With a Ring—And Admitted She Had Known About the Boys for YearsBrielle came to the house.
She wasn't angry.
She was crying.
“You know, don't you?”
I stared.
“Know what?”
“About your sons.”
I felt cold.
“How?”
“My father knew.”
She explained.
Her engagement to me had never been romantic.
It was part of the same alliance.
She had been told Mara was unstable.
She had been told I couldn't have children.
She had been promised a position in the family.
She hated it.
She had wanted to warn me.
But she was afraid.
I understood.
“I won't blame you.”
She gave me the ring.
“I don't want this.”
Neither did I.
She left.
That night, I finally threw the ring away.
May you like
Not because I was angry.
Because it belonged to a life that was never mine.
Related Stories
Chapter 10 - Mara and I Returned to the Restaurant Where I First Met Our Sons—And She Finally Told Me Why She Never Stopped Loving MeWe returned to the restaurant.
Chapter 11 - The Four Boys Asked Me to Marry Their Mother—Not Because They Needed a Father, but Because They Wanted Us to Stop Losing TimeThe boys planned it.
Chapter 12 - The Wedding Took Place in the Same Conservatory Where I Was Supposed to Propose to Brielle—But This Time There Was No Business DealThe same conservatory.
Chapter 13 - Six Years After Four Boys Were Hidden From Me, They Began Calling Our New House Home—And I Finally Learned What Being a Father Actually MeantFatherhood wasn't about money.
Chapter 14 - When the Boys Turned Eighteen, They Refused Their Inheritance and Gave the Moretti Fortune to Families Their Grandfather Had HurtThe four boys made a decision.
Chapter 15 - The Four Six-Year-Old Boys Who Walked Out of a Restaurant Bathroom Wearing My Face Eventually Became the Men Who Gave Me Back Six Years of Love — THE ENDSometimes I still think about that day.
