I didn’t have the money to fight. Everything was already in Sean’s favor. When it was done, I had almost nothing left.
Except my kids… for now.
So I said yes.
Not because I wanted to.
Because I was afraid of what would happen if I didn’t.
Sean lost his mind when he found out.
He showed up at Peter’s house, furious.
“You think this is going to work?” he snapped at me.
“I’m not doing this with you,” I said.
“You already did,” he shot back. “Marrying my father? You’ve lost it.”
I didn’t respond.
“This isn’t over,” he said before walking away.
And somehow… I believed him.
The wedding was small. Quiet. Almost clinical.
I didn’t feel like a bride.
I felt like someone signing a contract she didn’t fully understand.
Jonathan held my hand the whole time. Lila kept asking when we were going home.
That was the only part that mattered.
When we got back to the house, the kids ran ahead.
Peter closed the door behind us and turned to me.
“Now that it’s done,” he said, “I can tell you the real reason I asked you to marry me.”
I felt something tighten in my chest.
“You asked me for something once,” he continued. “Years ago.”
I frowned.
Then I remembered.
Sean had disappeared for two days.
No calls. No explanation.
The kids were small. I was terrified.
So I called Peter.
That night, after the kids were asleep, I sat outside, trying not to fall apart.
“I don’t have anyone,” I told him. “If something happens… I just don’t want my kids growing up thinking I abandoned them.”
He looked at me and said, “That won’t happen.”
Back in the present, I crossed my arms.
“And that’s why you married me?”
“That’s where it started,” he said. “Not where it ended.”
Something about his tone made me uneasy.
“Sean wasn’t waiting for things to fall apart,” he added quietly. “He was counting on it.”
I felt my stomach drop.
“You would’ve fought,” Peter said. “But he made sure you didn’t have the tools to win.”
The next morning, I went through the boxes I’d never unpacked.
And that’s when I saw it.
Letters I never received.
