Chapter 8
Skyler’s hair had half-covered his face back then, and he and Tyler were of similar builds. That was why I’d thought Tyler was the one who’d saved me.
In truth, Skyler hadn’t finished telling me his name, and I’d misheard him. Or rather, I hadn’t even linked him to the matter.
Fate had played tricks on us, and I’d been mistaken from the very beginning. The man I’d wanted had always been Skyler, not
Tyler.
“We’ve been married for seven years, and you had plenty of chances to tell me the truth. Why didn’t you?” I asked. I couldn’t understand it.
Skyler looked at me, his eyes filled with emotion. “I figured I’d just leave it if you never noticed. It would only have been worth it for me to wait if you discovered the truth yourself.”
I burst into tears. He was such an idiot!
As I sobbed, he kissed my tears away. Then, he said softly, “I love you, Rory.”
I buried my head against his chest, feeling blissful in that moment. I didn’t remember Skyler ever telling me that he loved me during the seven years we’d been married. He was gentle to me and treated me well, but he rarely expressed his love for me.
I thought he just didn’t do romance, but I was wrong.
Fate had truly pulled a fast one on us-I’d married the wrong guy, yet I’d also married the right guy.
It was only when we got home that I found out things had changed in the Stone family while we were away.
Tyler just couldn’t accept that I’d married Skyler and started lingering in bars. He drank his sorrows away. When Ruth realized she was about to lose the wealth that she’d been on the cusp of, she refused to leave the Stone residence.
Mary wanted to stop Tyler from pining for me, so she’d kept Ruth around in hopes that Tyler would accept her. Unfortunately, Tyler straight out told Ruth he wasn’t interested. He said he was already married and that he would never take anyone else as his
wife.
Ruth had been furious upon hearing that and had threatened to kill herself. Still, no matter what she did, Tyler remained
unmoved.
In truth, she’d lied to him about almost losing her vision when saving him. She’d only been interested in his wealth upon realizing that he was a rich kid who’d run away from home in a fit of rage.
Now that Tyler had rejected her, she knew she couldn’t sit around and wait any longer. She bought over one of the Stone family’s maids and conspired with Mary to make Tyler fall into bed with her.
Unfortunately for her, Tyler didn’t react to her seduction. He even had her thrown out when he realized who she was.
I heard Ruth was kicked out of Tyler’s room with her clothes in a mess that night. She’d looked unkempt and was a sorry sight.
In the end, her reputation had been ruined.
Despite that and the pressure on him to marry her, Tyler had refused to take responsibility. He kept insisting that he was already
married.
Mary couldn’t take it anymore and gave Ruth a million dollars, advising her to look for someone new. Ruth had refused to leave, though.
Tyler had laughed nastily and said, “You’ll get a million dollars if you leave now. Wait until tomorrow, and you won’t get a dime.
1/2
Just like that, Ruth had taken the money and left to find a new target. But shortly after, there were rumors that she’d been scammed out of all of her money. She’d had no choice but to work as a waitress somewhere.
She’d begged Tyler to save her, but he’d merely had her thrown out.
That was just what he was like-he had no sympathy for people he didn’t care about. I’d already gotten a taste of that when he’d left me to be mocked by everyone in the past.
Surprisingly, this seemed to make Tyler wake up to reality. He started avoiding me, and he stopped showing up in places I would go. It was almost as if he was trying to make sure nobody misunderstood us.
However, I heard from the maids that he would stand in the yard and secretly stare at my study windows.
Of course, none of that had anything to do with me.
Skyler bought property in Cloudsburg and brought Calvin and me there. The weather there was always perfect, and the scenery was gorgeous. Traveling there in the winter made for a lovely trip.
Calvin loved it there and made friends with the local children. I, too, slowly got used to life there and frequently climbed up the mountains. Everything there seemed novel and lovely.
Three years after we moved there, I got pregnant again. I gave birth to twin sons.
Skyler was delighted. It didn’t matter to him whether we had sons or daughters, but he loved having boys.
The sun shone brightly outside, and there was a light breeze. Everything was perfect, just like my life.
