- 7.
Soon after, Declan Carter and I registered our marriage. As the head of the Carter family, I worried it made his marriage seem rushed. But he said it was a disservice to me, not giving me a wedding first.
I truly appreciated Declan’s love and respect, but my past with Gideon made it hard to move on quickly. Even though Declan showed his genuine feelings countless times, because of that one billion, I couldn’t face him as an equal.
On the third day after registering, Declan suddenly threw a pile of documents in front of me and knelt down.
“This is my entire fortune, transferred to your name.”
I looked at him in disbelief, and Declan simply smiled, “One billion is nothing, not worth making you sad.”
Tears welled up in my eyes. I couldn’t believe someone could love me so sincerely and unreservedly..
In the days that followed, with Declan’s careful attention, I seemed to slowly come out of the shadows of the past, and I smiled more and more.
Until one day, I saw Gideon at the Carter family’s door. His eyes were red, and seeing me, he rushed over, overwhelmed with
emotion:
“Nora, I know everything now. It was all Phoebe’s doing! Give me a chance, let’s start over.”
“Gideon, we ended long ago.” I stepped back and showed the large diamond ring on my finger.
Gideon looked as if stabbed in the chest, stumbling against the wall.
“You and him…”
“Registered,” I said softly, “last week.”
He rushed over, grabbing my wrist painfully:
<
“Nora, you’re lying, right? You’ve loved me for ten years! How can you be with another man? I thought you were just using him to get back at me. How could you marry him!”
I yanked my hand away:
“Yes, you knew I loved you all along, so you took advantage of that to hurt me, didn’t you?”
Gideon struggled, “And the kids, the two you raised, don’t you want them?”
Pain pierced my heart as I remembered being accused that day, and I smiled bitterly:
“They didn’t want me.”
Gideon’s face turned ghostly white:
“Fine, fine, but I was deceived by Phoebe. I know I was wrong. Won’t you give me even one chance?”
“Gideon, without Phoebe, we’d still have ended up here because you never truly believed in me. If you had cared even a little, you wouldn’t have hurt me for so many years. I’m done and utterly exhausted.”
He seemed drained of strength, collapsing to his knees:
“I was wrong… Nora, I was so wrong…”
I looked down at him, suddenly finding it laughable.
“Gideon,” I said softly,
“Even if you kneel here begging, if we went back, you’d still slap me for Phoebe’s lies and throw me out.”
He trembled all over but couldn’t argue back.
“Because you don’t love me, you’re just used to my love for you, just unwilling to let go.”
“I can make it up-”
“With money?”
I chuckled,
“Like spending a billion to buy me back then?”
“Then what do you want? My life? I can give it to you right now!”
He crawled over, clinging to my leg desperately,
“I want you to disappear.”
I pried his fingers off one by one,
“Gideon, your love is a debt I can’t afford, and I’m too scared to accept it.”
The last color drained from his face, as if he truly accepted my finality, collapsing to the floor in despair. Gideon had never been
sq pathetic. I turned and walked away leaving his cries and collanso far behind.
