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His lips thin as he leans his arms on the railing, appearing completely human.
“In an unlikely twist of fate,” I mutter, “I happen to know exactly how you feel.”
He scoffs. “Please. You and Mr. Perfect are exactly that. Perfect.”
“It’s not about us, though. It’s about me.”
He swings his curious gaze toward me. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve spent so long making myself small and covering up who I was that at some point, I stopped truly living.” My heart breaks with how much I’ve missed him, and though it’s incredibly difficult, I force myself to say, “Rowan helped me work through that, and I’ve still got more to unpack, but I’m the one who had to let go of the ugliness I saw—the pain and the hurt—before I could even attempt to accept who I am.”
As I face him, memories of all the times he’s embarrassed me, belittled me, and gone out of his way to torment me surface, but the fight I came here with is gone. Not a single part of me has the desire to return Wade’s treatment of me because he can’t hurt me any longer.
After a moment, I place a hand on his arm. “I forgive you.”
He stands there, stiff as a board, balking at me. “But I’ve been awful to you… worse than awful.”
“You have,” I confirm.
“And you still forgive me?”
When I nod, his face crumples with a mix of bewilderment and relief. He straightens, staring down at me with sincerity. “Thank you, Molly.”
I leave Wade’s apartment building with the sign my mom gave me at the forefront of my thoughts, and I feel her presence like a shadow behind me. As if beyond the grave, she’s cheering me on with a proudly whispered, That’s my girl, leaving me empowered, relieved, and eager to see what the future holds.
New me, new beginnings.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Rowan
I’m jet-lagged, emotionally strung out, and thoroughly abusing my last functioning brain cell, but this is the final step in making Molly mine, forever.
“That’s all of it. The truth. Down to every last detail,” I say to Patricia and Sam, who are sitting at the table in the dining room.
Before arranging a meeting with her, I planned to head back to Seattle to talk to my brothers in person about the wedding, the manor, and my plans moving forward, only to end up bailing Lucas out of yet another scandal and getting stuck there for days.
Archer’s not speaking to me, Everett’s torn between all of us, and Lucas… Fucking hell.
As expected, Sam showed Patricia the recording before I had a chance to speak with her. Now, we’re all gathered in this meeting that she called for us to discuss it.
Sam gawks as if I’ve completely lost my mind, and that one look solidifies just how much he had underestimated us. He truly didn’t think I would attempt to fight him on this.
Well, surprise, dickhead. I’m doing whatever the fuck it takes.
“You heard him,” he says snidely. “He’s in violation of the clause for his inheritance. You have to deny his marriage to Molly.”
Reginald and Danika stand in the far corner of the room with their faces pinched with worry. So much is riding on me successfully convincing her to let this happen, but I’m immensely grateful for their support.
I hold up Thomas’s letter, and Patricia’s eyes widen a touch. “Thomas made a lifetime of mistakes, but he loved his siblings. His parents may have put him in charge of the manor, but he wanted the families unified.” Waving it toward Sam, I add, “It was your grandfather and their sister who tore the family apart.”
“Bullshit,” Sam grits.
“Believe what you want, but it’s true.”
My cousin stands in an angry burst. “Why are we even entertaining this? You and Molly can’t get married, and you’ve chosen to let the Radley legacy die. It’s over, and that’s entirely on you.”
I don’t bother acknowledging him, keeping my gaze trained on the woman who holds all the cards—my fate, my future—in her hands.
