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And throughout it, his wife stared at him with tear-brightened eyes.
Ah, psaraki.
How I love you.
Swallowing, he forced himself to continue. “Don’t get me wrong, though. I love our children more than my life itself, but they are not and have never been why I love you.” He inhaled sharply. “They are not why the past eight years feel so short.” His fingers tightened around the microphone. “It’s you that makes me happy, you that makes our family the way it is. You, Pollyanna Graham Gazis, go beyond completing us. You are our life, and I live for you. I breathe for you, and...whatever happens—-”
He looked at his wife.
“Your memories are more than enough to sustain me.”
The crowd fell silent.
Pollyanna started to cry.
And Theo, how he wanted to do something, say something, so he could have another chance.
But he knew it couldn’t be.
Even if he wanted to make the grandest gesture, he could not and would not do so. Because at least in that sense, Kyr could be as selfless as Pollyanna was, and he would not want his children to have any memory of him saying goodbye to their mother.
And so he switched to French, rasping out, “Congratulations, my love. May you have everything you want.”
She didn’t see him go.
She only knew that he was gone, could feel the way her heart started dying, again, the moment he turned his back and started walking away.
She wanted to see him, but there were too much tears.
And then dimly, she heard young voices saying, “Mama, Mama.”
It was the twins, and even Leo was with them. Behind the children was the nanny with Annalisa, and she hurriedly wiped the tears away from her eyes. “We should...” She halted, unable to remember what she was supposed to say. Around her, the crowd stared, and it didn’t seem to matter.
Dio tugged at the skirt of her gown. “Mama, I have something for you.”
She looked down, and her lips parted in shock.
It was her old, big bag that Dio had in his hands.
He lifted the straps to her. “It’s from Papa.”
Oh.
She reached for the bag, her gaze blurry. She opened the bag and found it empty except for a folder. Opening it, she saw that it was a document certifying a transfer of shares.
She blinked fast, but still the words remained unchanged.
Oh, Kyr.
Why?
He had not run after Ana to rebuild his family’s legacy, and yet now, he was giving complete ownership of Teleios to her.
She started to weep.
Oh, Kyr.
I love you.
But I have to be strong.
Dimly, she heard the host stammer on the microphone, doing his best to explain the situation while the crowd started to sniff. She felt another tug at her skirt, thought it was Dio, until she looked down and saw that it was Leo. She scooped him up, and he told her seriously, “Zoji.”
“What’s that, baby?”
Dio suddenly grabbed her arm, his eyes wide as he exclaimed, “Mama, Leo’s right.”
She was perplexed. “Leo? Right? About what?”
Ella grabbed her other hand, and it was clear with the way the twins were looking at each other that they were communicating silently.
“What is it?” she asked again.
“Oh, Mama.” Her daughter raised shining eyes to her. “Leo is right.”
“Right about—-”
“It’s like what you teach us, Mama.” Dio’s voice was determined. “Remember? If you do something wrong, you need to say sorry and then everything will be okay again. Remember, Mama?”
Oh.
“So get Papa to say sorry, Mama, and then you’ll forgive him.” Ella’s tone became uncertain when Pollyanna just kept looking at her. “Right?”
She stared into the twins’ eyes, hope glimmering in their gazes, and she thought, of course. Oh, but of course. After all the therapists she spoke with, after all the books she read, after all the advice she got from people who were supposed to know better because they were older and more experienced—-
But of course she had to find the right answers from her children.
She looked at them, thought about how they loved simply and deeply, without expecting anything, and she knew that was how it was supposed to be.
It didn’t matter if people thought she was weak for forgiving him, didn’t matter if people would keep thinking he’d betray her again.
Because in the end, it was just like what her own children said.
If you loved—-
If you did something wrong—-
Chubby hands clasped her face, and it was Leo again, gurgling with laughter, but his voice was angelically solemn when he said, “Zoji.”
Oh.
And she heard herself whisper, “Papa. Call Papa back.”
And as a family, they started to scream.
KYR WAS ABOUT TO STEP out of the building when he heard heavy footsteps behind him. It was Orion, and he gasped out, “Master Kyr, your family—-”
He didn’t wait to hear the rest.
He simply turned around and ran like hell. His family. His family. The words pounded in his brain, and he wondered numbly what he would do if something happened to his family. Goddammit, if anything happened to them—-
