AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I scoffed. “Not anymore. I never want to see or hear from him again.”
Hale sighed. “I wish I would have had the chance to be there for you when you needed someone. All week I sensed something bothering you. You should have told me.”
“I was scared.”
“Hey, you don’t ever have to be scared about coming to me. We’re a partnership. We’re going to be husband and wife. Forever. Whatever comes, good or bad, rich or poor, sickness or health, we face it together. Understand?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry I worried you.”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I just chalked it up to jitters. I should have known something was up the moment you started avoiding me.”
I was done avoiding things. I glanced at the ominous envelope. He followed my gaze and unwound the seal. My heart beat wildly.
“I thought this might cheer you up.”
I frowned, a boulder rolling in the pit of my stomach. “Why would that cheer me up?”
“I just want to say one thing about parents before I give it to you.” He gripped the envelope. “After I learned how my dad betrayed me and discovered Jasmine was pregnant, nothing was the same. My whole world shifted. We assume parents are these infallible beings, but they’re just human. This is their first time living as much as it’s ours. Realizing that a day will likely come when I do something to disappoint Elara has helped me work toward forgiving my own father.”
“You would never purposely hurt her, Hale.”
“No. Never purposefully.” He smiled sadly. “And I’m not sure my dad would either. It was one thoughtless action that changed all of our lives forever.”
He never talked about that day, so I sat quietly, giving him plenty of space to get out what he wanted to say.
“I’m sure it wasn’t easy for you to confront your father, Rayne. When I confronted my dad it was one of the ugliest fights of my life. Then he had a heart attack and took a spill down a flight of stairs and I felt responsible. I realized the worst part about hating him was that I didn’t know how to stop loving him.” He looked at me with glassy eyes. “No one will blame you for forgiving your father, baby. You have a good heart. Don’t let him change that.”
I looked away, losing the battle against my own tears. “Maybe one day, but I’m not there yet. I may never be.”
“And that’s fine too. Just know that Tyler was right. I’d never stand in your way if that was something you needed to do.”
“Thank you.”
He sighed and looked down at the thick envelope in his hands.
What was he waiting for? “Did you want me to sign that?”
“Very much so.”
Ouch. That wasn’t necessarily the response I’d expected, but I suppose he was being honest. Time to get this over with. “Give me your pen.”
“Before you do, I want you to really think about what it is you’re agreeing to, Rayne. There’s no going back after this. I'm asking you for forever and this is an ironclad contract.”
“I’m sure.”
He withdrew the prenup and handed it to me with the pen.
I wasn’t going to read it.
Marrying Hale had never been about getting his money. It was about spending the rest of my life with the man I loved. I flipped up the cover page and frowned.
“What is this?” Why was Elara’s name added to our prenup?
“It’s the adoption papers. Isn’t that what you were expecting?”
I looked at him in shock. “What?” My eyes scanned the page until they blurred. “Adoption papers?”
“Yeah. She and I are sort of a package deal. I thought you knew that.”
