Chapter 17
Edward finally chose to leave.
Theo clung to me, sobbing, refusing to go.
He couldn’t understand why the mother who loved him most would suddenly abandon him.
But I still couldn’t forgive the past.
The memory of him denying me, calling the guards to throw me out
He was crying so hard he could barely breathe.
I softened and hugged him gently.
“Go with your dad.”
“Come visit during holidays.‘
“}
But he still felt insecure. “What if I come and you’re gone again?”
held out my pinky. “Let’s make a promise. I won’t leave.”
Edward looked at me. “Thank you.”
Before leaving, he added, “Grace, I won’t give up.
it haunted me.
After going back, Edward finally made the decision to send Amelia away.
She was stunned. “What about Mrs. Smith?”
“I asked the doctor. She’s doing much better.”
“Her illness was always about me. I’ll stay and care for her.”
Tears streamed down Amélia’s face. “If I leave… what will I do?”
Edward’s gaze was sharp.
“Don’t cling to what was never yours.”
Amelia regretted everything.
If she had known Grace, that wretch in her eyes, would become so captivating enough to make Edward turn back – secured her position with Mrs. Smith long ago. her eve
Mr. Kensington had once hinted at it,
But it was too late now.
She had wanted to be the wife not the sister.
Edward was firm this time.
The Kensington patriarch didn’t like Grace and wanted Edward to remarry someone of proper standing.
Edward defied him for the first time.
He knelt in the ancestral hall for three days and nights, until he collapsed.
The family couldn’t afford to lose their most capable heir-
once lost and now returned
–
so they relented.
When Edward woke, Ethan looked at him with a complicated expression.
“Will she… come back with you?”
Chapter 17
–
she would’ve
Edward shook his head.
“Then why-”
“Is it worth it?”
Edward replied calmly, “I need to be ready for whatever comes.”
Over the past year, every time he thought of Grace, he only remembered her goodness.
Before Theo was born, they had genuinely happy days.
He had relied on her.
He had truly loved her.
And as he drowned in his memories, he had no choice but to admit
―
he had fallen for her all over again.
He didn’t know if she would ever forgive him.
But he had to try.
