Total pages in book: 78
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 74766 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 374(@200wpm)___ 299(@250wpm)___ 249(@300wpm)
“How could you,” he grates out, “when I didn’t even know the truth until this morning?”
I stumble back the moment I realize he’s about to reach for me, but either I’m too slow or he’s too fast—
No.
His hands grip my shoulders, his fingers pressing into my flesh with desperate intensity.
“It’s true...what Jessica said,” he admits in jerky words. “I married you, thinking it would be enough to lure your sister back—”
“Well, now she’s back—”
“But she’s no longer what I want.”
I shake my head. “You’re just guilty—”
“I am guilty,” Gavine acknowledges roughly, “but not about that. I found out something about Jessica early on in our marriage that made me realize she’s never going to come back for you...”
He’s talking about my adoption...
“I realized there was no point keeping you captive. And that’s why I resolved earlier to tell you our marriage was over, and that I was going to let you go.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
“That’s what I asked myself every day...and it was only this morning—”
“When you saw Jessica—”
“No, darling.”
I try pulling away as soon as he cups my face, but he’s not letting go, and it’s making me cry again. “Stop this—”
“If she hadn’t arrived, I would have told you that I finally figured out why I couldn’t let you go—”
“Stop it,” I say brokenly. “Just please stop messing me up—”
Dark eyes lock with mine, and sobs rock my body as he says the words I never thought I’d hear from him.
“And it’s because I’ve fallen in love with you.”
As soon as he says it, something in me...breaks.
And I find myself taking him completely by surprise as I shove past him and run out of the room.
I’m sorry, God, I’m sorry.
I’ve started reading the Bible long enough to know that a broken marriage isn’t what He wants, but I just...I just...
I’m so sorry, Father, for being so weak.
I run as fast as I can, running faster than I’ve ever run, and I can’t even find it in myself to care at the way everyone’s stopped working to stare at me.
The moment I throw the French doors open, nature itself seems to mirror the chaos in my heart. Torrential rain crashes down from the charcoal sky like the very heavens are weeping, transforming the sprawling ranch into a war zone of mud and fury. Wind howls across the open land, bending trees nearly horizontal and turning every raindrop into a stinging missile.
But I don’t care.
I plunge into the maelstrom, my bare feet slipping and sliding in the churning mud that sucks at my ankles with every desperate step. The storm swallows my sobs, my labored breathing, the sound of my heart breaking over and over again. Water streams down my face, rain mixing with tears until I can’t tell where one ends and the other begins.
I don’t even know where I’m going, all I know is that I have to get away from him—
Nooo!
But once again, he catches up to me, and a sob tears out of my throat as his hands lock around my waist. Through the driving rain, I can see ranch hands emerging from barns and outbuildings, drawn by the spectacle. Staff members press against windows of the main house, their faces pale against the glass. Everyone watching as their boss pursues his fleeing wife through the storm like something out of a gothic novel.
He manages to spin me around despite my struggles, cupping my face, forcing me to meet his gaze past the tears and the rain that plasters his dark hair to his forehead.
“Don’t leave me, please.”
And then he does something that I never thought he’d do.
“Please, Wednesday, I’m begging you.”
This proud, proud man before me...actually crashes down to his knees in the mud like he doesn’t care about all the rain and all the people watching us. The impact sends up a splash of muddy water, staining his jeans, his white shirt now transparent and clinging to his chest. He looks nothing like the powerful and ruthless billionaire rancher he’s always been...and everything like a man who’s lost everything that matters.
“S-Stop this!”
But it’s as if he doesn’t hear me.
“I love you,” he says raggedly, having to raise his voice over the wind. “I’m sorry it took me so long to realize how I feel about you. And I know I don’t deserve a second chance—”
Oh, how I wish I was the type of person to be vindictive, just so I could say NO.
No, you don’t!
You absolutely don’t after how much you’ve hurt me again and again.
“But I’m asking for it anyway because I’m your husband, and you’re my wife, and I know now...that means something to both of us. So please...”
I want to cover my ears so I’d stop hearing his words.
I want to tell him that he’s asking for the impossible.
Or if he really wants me back then first I want him to earn my forgiveness and make him pay.