She Got The Ring And The Marriage, I Got The Silence Chapter 05

She Got The Ring And The Marriage, I Got The Silence Chapter 05

Tessa never answered him.

She’d spiraled so far the doctor had sedated her, afraid her heart would give out.

Even sedated, she couldn’t rest.

Her brows remained furrowed, and fractured words kept slipping from her lips, hoarse, barely

there, each one worse than the last.

He caught every single one.

Mom. Grandma. Lenora. And then, quieter than the rest, the baby.

The only family she had left. All gone.

He watched her sleep, if you could call it that, and something in his chest pulled tight enough to

crack.

He leaned down and pressed his cheek to hers. Her skin was cold.

“I meant what I said, Tessa. I’m going to marry you.”

His phone buzzed. He checked the screen, and his jaw tightened.

He slipped out of the room.

Brielle was right there in the hallway, holding a cheap gift shop bouquet.

Graham gripped her bicep and hauled her around the corner.

“Go home. If Tessa wakes up and sees you, it’ll only push her over the edge.”

Brielle stood there, eyes already welling with fake tears.

She knew why he was being like this. The baby.

But that wasn’t her fault.

Tessa couldn’t even hold onto a pregnancy. How was that Brielle’s problem?

If it had been her carrying Graham’s baby, she would’ve been careful. She would never have been so

reckless.

The thought lingered a beat too long, and a twisted thrill shot up her spine.

Graham didn’t notice.

He just needed her gone before Tessa woke up.

He turned to leave, then froze.

“Wait.”

His voice dropped to a lethal register.

“Did you send your people to Alderwick?”

“Two copies of that marriage license exist. Yours and mine. So either you gave yours to someone,

or I gave mine.”

Brielle’s stomach dropped.

She could never admit it.

She grabbed his arm, words tumbling out.

“No, it wasn’t me.”

“My parents took my copy of the license. They must’ve found out about Tessa and got worried she’d jeopardize the payout… They probably went to her grandmother on their own. I didn’t know anything about it, I swear…”

Graham shook her off like a disease. No warmth in it.

He didn’t know if she was lying.

It didn’t matter. Whether it was Brielle or her parents, the result was the same: Tessa’s grandmother was dead because of them.

And their baby was gone.

He hated every last one of them. Brielle included.

When he spoke again, it was in the voice he used to call in airstrikes.

“Brielle. We’re filing for divorce. Tomorrow.”

Brielle didn’t move. Didn’t blink.

Graham didn’t repeat himself.

Her whole world tilted. She broke down, gasping and sobbing, clinging to the only move she’d ever

known.

“General Westcott, you know what they’re like. If you divorce me, my parents will drag me out of

the service and sell me off to some old creep! My life will be over!”

“Go to JAG. File a restraining order. It’s not my problem anymore.”

“My lawyer’s office. Eight a.m. sharp tomorrow.”

“Bring Tessa’s jewelry. Every piece her mother left her, all of it. Or I’ll have the MPs arrest you for grand larceny.”

Graham turned and walked away. He didn’t look back.

Brielle sank to the floor, arms around her head, shaking with sobs.