11
I had no idea that the moment we landed, a car sent by Harris’s grandfather would be waiting to take u directly to the family estate.
Harris was on high alert the entire ride, squeezing my hand. “Taylor, we don’t have to go. I’m strong enough now. He can’t control me anymore.”
I didn’t understand why he was so tense. Did he know his grandfather had always disapproved of us? Grand pa Croft valued family reputation above all else. Part of the reason I had left five years ago was because h had summoned me to his study.
“Taylor,” he had said, his voice cold. “The Croft family will not tolerate impropriety. Do you understand? Yo
are our adopted daughter. That is all you will ever be.”
To my surprise, when he saw Harris and me arrive together, he didn’t throw us out. Instead, he pulled m
aside and started chatting warmly. Harris, on the other hand, glared at him the entire time.
“You brat,” his grandfather huffed. “You haven’t come to see this old man once in five years, and now yo
follow her here like a little puppy. What, are you afraid I’m going to eat her?”
Harris tightened his grip on my hand, his face a cold mask. “Grandfather, I won’t make the same mistake did five years ago. Why did you ask Taylor to come here today?”
“Can’t I invite my granddaughter-in-law over for dinner?”
At the words “granddaughter-in-law,” the tension in Harris’s shoulders melted away. The anger vanished, an
he sat beside me quietly, like a lion that had been soothed.
His grandfather asked me how I’d been, if I had suffered.
“I’ve been well, Grandpa. No suffering at all. I found my birth parents, and they sent me to college abroad. graduated last year, came back, and found a good job.”
He sighed in relief. “That’s good. As long as you weren’t suffering, I can rest easy. What happened five year:
ago… it was my fault. I’m the one who tore you two lovebirds apart.”
Harris suddenly pulled me to my feet. “You talk too much. If there’s nothing else, I’m taking Taylor and leavi- ng.”
“Sit down,” his grandfather commanded. “I was doing it for your own good!”
“I don’t need it. I can win my own wife back.”
But his grandfather was determined. “Taylor, the truth is, the day before you confessed to Harris five years ago, he was already planning to confess to you.”
I shot to my feet. “What? That’s impossible.”
“It’s true,” he said, his voice heavy with regret. “I found out about his plan and I was furious. I took a whip to him, tried to beat the ‘improper’ thoughts out of him. The boy wouldn’t yield. His back was a bloody mess but he still refused to give you up. I told him if he ever thought of you as anything more than a sister again, would throw you out of the Croft family. Only then did he promise to only ever treat you as a sister.”
His grandfather looked at me, his eyes filled with remorse. “After you left, that boy hated me. He wouldn’ answer my calls, wouldn’t come see me for five years. I’ve regretted it ever since. I’m sorry, Taylor.”
My eyes burned with tears. I turned to Harris. “Is that true? You told me you just didn’t understand your ow feelings back then. Harris, did you lie to me?”
Harris pulled me into his arms. “He’s talking nonsense. It’s not true. I only realized my feelings for
brotherly after you left. I deserve to grovel to get you back.”
Grandfather would never lie about something like this. Are you still not going to tell me the truth?”
you weren
Harris held up his hands in surrender, watching my expression carefully. “It’s not a big deal. The old man jus ikes to talk. It was my fault for being too weak back then to stand up to the family pressure, causing you to
eave. But don’t worry, no one can threaten me anymore. We can do whatever we want.”
grabbed his hand and started walking toward the door.
Harris’s voice was laced with panic. “Honey, don’t be mad. I was wrong. You’re not… you’re not leaving m
again, are you?”
I turned back to him.
‘Didn’t you just say we can do whatever we want?”
Yes?”
“Let’s go to City Hall. Let’s get married.”
That night, Harris posted a picture of our marriage certificate online.
Caption: [Officially promoted. No more waking up to find my one true love has disappeared.]
