They Wanted Her, I Gave Her Everything, Now He’s Begging for Me Back Chapter 02

They Wanted Her, I Gave Her Everything, Now He’s Begging for Me Back Chapter 02

My phone buzzed with a group text from the class president,everyone was gathering for the graduation photo.

I hurried back to the car for my cap and gown.

My bag was empty.

Nearby, against the ivy-covered wall, Reese stood in my graduation gown.

She was posing with Holden. Couple shots. Their fingers laced tight, bodies leaning closer with every click.

Then their caps bumped ,and they doubled over laughing.

That cap. I’d started making it three months ago—a matching set. For us.

Reese caught me staring. Her smile died.

Holden stepped in front of her, jaw tight.

“Reese just wanted to feel what college is like. It’s one gown. I’ll have another sent over.”

I almost said don’t bother.

I didn’t get the chance.

Reese spotted the crowd and fluttered toward them, as if born for the spotlight.

Holden followed. Her personal shield.

She whispered something to the class president, then climbed onto a chair. She claimed my spot as if she’d been standing there all four years.

I could already picture it,years from now, when my classmates pulled out their graduation photos, every story would be about her.

And I’d have nothing left behind.

Eleanor had been watching Reese with that soft, tender gaze. Then she noticed my silence. The air tensed.

“Sage. You always schedule a photographer for big milestones. Let’s all go tonight. The whole family. Ten sets. Whatever you want.”

A gift. That’s what this meant to be.

But mostly, it was insurance—against me snapping like I had in the beginning.

They didn’t need to worry anymore. They’d already stripped away every reason I had to fight. I wasn’t stupid enough to challenge the real daughter now.

I shook my head. Softly. Lightly.

“I’m not the Caldwells’ biological daughter. If I travel far someday, no one will think of me. No point in photos.”

“And besides—it’s just a graduation photo. Not important.”

Reese had already stolen the whole day.

Eleanor’s face stilled. The smile vanished.

Something flickered in her downturned eyes—complicated, unreadable.

Reese finished soaking up her college experience and floated back toward us, arms full of bouquets my classmates had given her.

“Happy graduation, Sage.”

She plucked a single green leaf from one of the arrangements,a filler stem,and handed it to me like a gift.

Every pair of family eyes locked on me.

I took it. Said thank you.

Reese’s smile dimmed, just slightly. She spun and buried herself against Edward’s chest. The baby girl act.

“Daddy~ did you forget Sage’s graduation present? Don’t let me take all the attention!”

The silence that followed was suffocating.

Because before Reese woke up, Edward and Eleanor had actually prepared a graduation gift.

The controlling shares of the trust fund. Ten percent.

More than Gideon got, even though he was running the overseas branch.

Nobody had mentioned it since Reese opened her eyes.

Edward and Eleanor’s lips stayed sealed. I flashed a bright smile.

“I don’t deserve a gift like that. Only Reese does.”

As for Holden? He’d been planning to propose on graduation day.

The ring I’d dreamed about for over a decade.

Now it sat on Reese’s finger.

I figured I had nothing left to lose.

Back then, I’d turned down a graduate program abroad. Chose to stay. Chose family. Chose Holden.

Time to fix that choice.