She Has His Eyes, and He’s Marrying My Stepsister Chapter 13

Chapter 13: The Investor

Five hundred heads swung between me and Killian.

My heart was pounding so hard I could barely stand. “What is she talking about?”

Sloane laughed, wild and hysterical, mascara starting to streak. “Oh, he didn’t tell you? Your little bakery was ing under three years ago. Remember the anonymous investor who suddenly paid off all your debts? Fifty thousand dollars out of

nowhere?”

I went cold.

I remembered. I’d cried in the bank for twenty minutes. I’d called it a miracle.

“It was him,” Sloane spat. “He’s been watching you for years. Paying your rent. Paying off your loans. He knew where you lived. He knew everything. He’s obsessed with you. That’s not love, sweetie. That’s creepy.”

The whole church was silent.

I looked at Killian. He stood frozen at the altar, his jaw tight, his eyes locked on mine.

“Is it true?” I said. My voice echoed.

He didn’t lie. He never lied to me.

“Yes.”

Gasps everywhere.

“Grant told me three years ago that your bakery was failing,” he said quietly. “He didn’t know about Ivy. He just said his little sister was struggling and too proud to ask for help. I thought you were with someone else. I thought you had a family that wasn’t mine.” His voice cracked. “But I couldn’t stand the thought of you losing the thing you loved. So I paid it. And I never once came near you. Because I thought you didn’t want me.”

The silence stretched forever.

Then I stood up from the last pew.

And I walked down that aisle. The aisle meant for Sloane. Past five hundred staring faces, past the cameras, past my sobbing mother.

I stopped in front of him.

“You saved my bakery,” I whispered. “You saved our home. When she was three, we almost lost everything. You saved us. And you never even said a word.”

“I didn’t need you to know,” he said roughly. “I just needed you to be okay.”

I grabbed his tuxedo collar, pulled him down, and kissed him in front of God and everyone.

The cathedral exploded. Cameras flashing. People shouting. Some

body actually started clapping.

“NO!” Sloane screamed. She lunged toward me with her nails out.

She didn’t make it.

Four uniformed police officers stepped out from the side doors. Killian had them waiting there the whole time

“Sloane Reyes,” the officer said, “you’re under arrest for attempted murder, child endangerment, conspiracy to kidnap a minor, and fraud.”

The handcuffs clicked around her wrists. Right over her custom lace sleeves.

“Daddy!” she screamed at Richard. “DADDY, DO SOMETHING!”

Richard didn’t move. He was staring at his phone. Killian’s lawyers had served him papers ten minutes ago. Every share he owned in Voss Holdings had just been frozen pending a fraud investigation into his own accounts.

They dragged Sloane down the aisle she’d just walked up. Veil trailing on the floor. Screaming my name all the way out the doors.

Every camera in the building followed her.

My mother found me outside on the cathedral steps an hour later. She looked ten years older.

“Wren.” Her voice was broken. “I didn’t know. I swear to God, I didn’t know.”

“You slapped me,” I said quietly. “In front of my daughter. You chose her every single time, Mom. Even when you didn’t know anything.”

She started crying. “Please. I want to make it right. I want to know my granddaughter.”

I looked at her for a long time.

“Then earn it,” I said. “Slowly. And if you ever make her cry again, you’ll never see her.”

She nodded through her tears.

When we got home, Ivy was waiting at the door in her duck pajamas. She ran straight past me and jumped into Killian’s

arms.

“Killy! You came back!”

“I’ll always come back, little bird.”

She pulled back and studied his face very seriously. The way only a five-year-old can.

“Killy?” she whispered. “Mommy said it’s okay to ask you something.”

He looked at me. I nodded, my throat tight.

Ivy took a deep breath.

“Are you my daddy?”