Chapter 6 - The Wedding Invitation I Once Used to Hurt Clare Became the Paper That Forced Me to Admit What I Really WantedThe invitation remained in my desk drawer.
I couldn't throw it away.
Not because of Sabrina.
Because it reminded me of the man I had been.
A man who came to the hospital to hurt someone he still loved.
I hated him.
One night, Clare found it.
She held it.
“You kept it.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I wanted to remember how stupid I was.”
She smiled.
“You can throw it away.”
“I will.”
She looked at me.
“After you learn the lesson.”
“What lesson?”
“That winning isn't the same as being right.”
I laughed.
“I've learned that.”
She placed the invitation on my desk.
“Good.”
I looked at her.
“Clare.”
“Yes?”
“I don't want Sabrina.”
“I know.”
“I don't want the old life.”
“I know.”
“I want this.”
She looked toward the hallway.
The boys were laughing.
“You want the family.”
“Yes.”
She looked at me.
“And me?”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
She looked away.
“I don't know if I can trust you.”
“You shouldn't yet.”
That surprised her.
“I'll earn it.”
“How?”
“By staying.”
She smiled.
“Then stay.”
I did.
Months passed.
We became a family.
Not legally.
Emotionally.
Then one evening, I found Clare sitting alone in the kitchen.
“Can't sleep?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I'm scared.”
“Of what?”
“Loving you again.”
I sat beside her.
“Me too.”
“You?”
“Yes.”
She laughed softly.
“You're finally honest.”
“I had a good teacher.”
She looked at me.
Then we kissed.
It wasn't dramatic.
It wasn't a reconciliation.
It was a beginning.
We didn't remarry.
Not yet.
We dated again.
Slowly.
The boys thought it was hilarious.
Noah asked:
“Are you boyfriend and girlfriend?”
I said:
“Maybe.”
Lucas said:
“You're married.”
Eli corrected:
“Not anymore.”
We laughed.
The relationship changed.
We talked.
We fought.
We apologized.
We listened.
And when Clare said no, I respected it.
That was the biggest change.
A year later, I asked her to marry me again.
Not with diamonds.
Not with cameras.
Just the two of us.
“I don't want the old marriage.”
She stared.
“I want a new one.”
She cried.
“I do too.”
She said yes.
The boys carried the rings.
Noah dropped his.
Lucas laughed.
Eli fixed everything.
Our wedding was small.
Private.
Warm.
My father walked Clare down the aisle.
I cried.
The boys stood beside us.
For the first time, I felt like I had earned the family I had almost lost.
But I didn't know the wedding would expose one final secret.
My father handed me a letter.
It was addressed to me.
Inside:
Damen,
The boys were never the end of your story.
They were the beginning.
Don't build another empire for them.
Build a home.
I cried.
Then looked at Clare.
She smiled.
The past was finally finished.
Or so I thought.
May you like
Because that night, someone broke into the Mercer estate.
The boys were targeted.
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