Total pages in book: 81
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 77335 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 387(@200wpm)___ 309(@250wpm)___ 258(@300wpm)
Olivia took care of the business end, making sure to invite everyone I would want in a private, intimate ceremony.
Despite the weather, she even managed to get Reid’s brother and his family flown out.
I never thought my wedding would be filled with people I knew and cared about. I always assumed it would be more of a business networking event for my father and whomever he married me off to.
This was so much better.
I just wished my father was here.
Despite her protests, Olivia did deliver an invitation to our father, but he still chose not to come. I knew his refusal was coming, but that didn’t mean it hurt any less.
Fortunately for me, my brother was there to give me away.
When Luc handed me off to Reid, he kissed my cheek, then shook Reid’s hand before leaning in and whispering something in Reid’s ear.
“You don’t have anything to worry about,” Reid told Luc, clapping him on the arm before Luc turned to sit with everyone else in the audience.
Our vows were short and simple.
We did not promise to honor or obey. We didn’t even say in sickness or in health. Instead, we promised to love and support each other’s dreams and passions. We promised to listen to each other and encourage one another to find our passions together.
Reid had listened to me.
He’d had the vows changed, so I was free to make decisions in my life.
I was his, always his, only his.
But I was no longer forced to live my life in a gilded cage, watching as everyone else around me lived their life and mine just passed me by.
Reid gave me the freedom I needed to make my own choices, while still choosing him.
He slid a perfect two-carat princess cut diamond on my finger, elegant but not too flashy. Just big enough to sparkle but small enough I could wear it while I played cello without it being a hindrance.
A single tear slid down my cheek as I looked into his eyes, knowing he saw me.
Not my name, not who I was raised to be, but me.
All of me.
Then on his finger, I slid a titanium band.
It was like him: strong, to the point, and unbreakable.
Reid Taylor had burst into my life as a domineering shadow I did not want, but now he was my protector, my savior, and my love.
EPILOGUE
LUCIAN MANWARRING, SR.
Istood in the shadows of the balcony.
Muddy slush from the sleet outside dripped off my wool overcoat and pooled at my feet, ruining the expensive Persian carpet. Not that I gave a damn.
Off to the right of the stage below, in the wings, I caught a flash of white.
My daughter Charlotte, dressed in a simple, yet elegant wedding gown, twirled as someone took her photo on their phone.
My son, Luc, appeared and offered his arm.
He would be walking her down the makeshift aisle.
Not me.
My children thought me cruel and unfeeling.
They weren’t wrong.
But they were wrong regarding my motivation to stay away.
My relationship with my children was… complicated.
Especially with Charlotte.
I was going to hell for so many fucking reasons, but the primary one, was that deep down, I had always resented my own daughter.
No, resented was too refined of a word. Hated.
Every time I looked at her sweet, smiling face, all I could see was the light dying in my beloved wife’s eyes.
My wife and I had truly loved one another. From the moment I laid eyes on her at that debutante ball, I knew, with a frightening clarity, that she was the only woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. It was a once in a lifetime moment.
It was why we married so impossibly young.
I couldn’t bear the thought of her not being mine.
So when the doctors had come to me with a choice between my daughter and my wife—I chose the woman I loved.
I was, and still am, a pragmatic businessman. I ran the numbers in my head. We could always have more children, but there would only be one her. Perhaps I could be forgiven for the heat-of-the-moment decision then—but not for the fact that I still didn’t regret it.
That is the true stain on my soul.
If I had the chance to do it over again, I’d make the same decision without hesitation.
Only a heartless monster would look upon the lovely, talented, kind woman my daughter had become and believe such a thing.
Sometimes, I think I died the day my wife did, and by some strange occurrence, the shell of my body just continued to go through the motions of living.
The relentless demand of empire building allowed me to hide behind an icy wall, built brick by brick, through an unending march of meetings, contract negotiations, legal maneuverings, and long business trips.
That was the secret curse of almost limitless resources and money.