Chapter 1
On Valentine’s Day, Gabriella Watson spent 24 hours straight inside Fred W. Symmes Chapel, sitting in the same pew, clutching her rosary, whispering prayers until her voice went hoarse and her body ached.
She did it because her husband, Daniel Durke, and their son, Jerome Durke, claimed they weren’t feeling well. They swore if she prayed hard enough, they’d start to feel better.
Exhausted, she caught a red–eye flight home. Midway through, her phone buzzed with a message from an unknown number. “Your husband’s marrying his stepsister today. Your son’s the ring bearer.”
Gabriella rolled her eyes at the cruel prank and typed back, “Impossible. My husband and son love me.”
But when she finally pulled up to the estate, she saw it with her own eyes—Daniel, in a tux, sliding a ring onto his stepsister’s finger as she stood radiant in a wedding dress.
A
Jerome clapped and grinned. “Thia, now you’re my real mom! I don’t have to live with that naggy woman anymore!”
Gabriella felt the world tilt. The rosary slipped from her hand and scattered across the ground.
“You promised–if I wanted to, you’d take me away. Now, I’m willing to go with you.
“Gabriella, you can’t take back what you said. Are you sure you don’t
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want Daniel and Jerome?”
“Yes. I don’t want them.”
Gabriella hung up. A few yards away, Daniel and Cynthia Moreau had just finished a heated kiss.
Her first instinct was to hide. She darted behind the rose wall, clenching her fist so tightly her skin throbbed with pain.
All this time, when she’d nearly ruined her body praying and stayed up through the night begging for the health of the people she loved, they were secretly throwing a lavish wedding for Cynthia.
The excuse about being “unwell” had been a lie. They’d been making a fool of her all along.
Most of the guests were Daniel’s friends. Applause swelled around them.
“Man, Danny is so romantic. Seven or eight years apart and they get back together–I’m tearing up.”
“Right? There’s no blood between them. They were forced apart. Thia’s had it rough. Thank God Danny stood by her, kicked Gabriella out, and made this huge wedding on Valentine’s Day–so perfect.”
“Yeah. Danny might’ve cared for Gabriella, but she could never take Thia’s place. Gabriella’s petty, and she ruined her looks. It’s no wonder her husband and son hate her. She just won’t go away. What a manipulative woman.”
Every word landed like another blow. Gabriella felt her blood go cold.
The wedding march looped. Daniel held Cynthia, who was sobbing,
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and his eyes were softer than she’d ever seen.
“Thia, eight years. I finally get to do this–have a dreamlike wedding with you.”
Cynthia choked back tears into his shoulder. “Danny, I never thought I’d be with you again in my lifetime. All the suffering–I can forget it now.”
Daniel’s look was full of protectiveness. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you. I’ll protect you forever.”
Jerome grinned and hugged Cynthia’s leg. “Thia, can I call you ‘Mom‘ now? You’re getting married to my dad.”
Cynthia smiled softly and said, “Yes, but keep it a secret from your mom, okay? If she finds out, I might get kicked out.”
Jerome’s face hardened. “Hmph. If she bullies you, I’ll make her pay. I’ll send her to the loony bin!”
Hot tears streaked down Gabriella’s face. She couldn’t believe it–the son she raised would put his own mother in a psychiatric hospital for Cynthia.
Daniel grabbed the mic and warned the crowd, “Please keep this
between us. Gabriella is petty and holds grudges. I’m worried she might do something to Thia.”
“Don’t worry, Danny. We’re all backing you and Thia–our lips are sealed!” someone called.
Cynthia gave a guilty look toward Daniel. “She’ll come after me if she knows.”
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Daniel soothed her, “I owe you this. I can’t put your name on the marriage license, but I’ll protect you. Gabriella won’t dare touch you.”
“Dad and I will be your knights, Mom Thia. No one will make you sad!” Jerome declared.
Then the crowd funneled into the estate’s ballroom and started the opening dance.
Gabriella’s legs gave out. She sank onto the lawn.
She remembered the first time she met Daniel–he was a mess, living on cigarettes and booze, many times close to jumping into the river.
She’d brought him to therapy, taken care of him for two years, and handled everything until he had life in him again.
She knew there was someone else in his heart, so she stepped back and disappeared for a while.
Daniel had searched the world for her. He even waited outside the B&B she stayed at for three days, begging her to come back.
He’d poured his heart out. “Gabriella, you gave me a second life. Marry
me.”
She’d believed his sincerity and trusted he’d love her above all else.
They were married for six years and had Jerome.
She never expected that when Gabriella returned, Daniel would so quickly drift back to his first love.
Even her son wanted Cynthia as his mother more than he wanted her.
Her devotion had become a joke–discarded and despised like trash.
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Gabriella’s eyes were too dry for tears. She watched the sky fill with pink heart–shaped balloons and felt a hollow chill at how blatant Daniel’s romance with Cynthia was.
At least in five days, she would disappear from this city for good–out
of their sight, out of their problem.
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