Thirty Years Of Marriage I Thought Was A Mistake Chapter 10

Thirty Years Of Marriage I Thought Was A Mistake Chapter 10

That night, my father rushed home from his business trip.

When he walked through the door, Adrian was sitting on our couch, peeling a tangerine for me.

My father’s face turned thunderous at the sight.

“So you’re Prescott?”

Adrian immediately stood, bowed respectfully, and said, “Good evening, Mr. Miller Sr.”

My father slammed his briefcase onto the table.

“Let me make one thing clear. My daughter is only twenty-five, so don’t even think about taking advantage of her.”

“Dad, I—”

“Stay out of this.”

My father glared at me.

“You’ve always been slow to catch on. A con artist could empty your bank account, and you would probably thank him for his trouble.”

He turned his glare back on Adrian.

“This man drives luxury cars and lives in mansions. For all we know, he has women in every city.”

Adrian didn’t defend himself.

He took the black card from my hand, placed it on top of a thick folder, and held the folder out to my father.

“Mr. Miller Sr., this contains a full accounting of my assets and holdings. Please look it over.”

My father accepted the documents and flipped through several pages.

The color slowly drained from his face.

“How… how much is all of this worth?”

“Approximately twelve billion dollars,” Adrian replied as calmly as though he were talking about twelve hundred.

“My attorneys are already preparing the necessary trusts and transfer documents. Half of my assets will be placed in Grace’s name, and the remainder will pass to our child.”

“We aren’t married yet,” I reminded him quietly.

“We’re getting married at the county courthouse tomorrow.”

Adrian glanced at me.

“I already booked an appointment for the marriage license and civil ceremony.”

My father’s hands began to shake around the documents.

“You…” He swallowed. “A man in your position could have anyone. My daughter is… she has always been a little slow on the uptake. What could you possibly want from her?”

“I want her exactly as she is,” Adrian said. “Mr. Miller Sr., I waited seventeen years for Grace. I’m not after anything she can give me.”

My father froze.

My mother came out of the kitchen carrying a serving dish and sighed.

“Honey, stop standing in their way. He clearly means every word. Besides, there’s already a baby on the way. What can you do about it now?”

“She’s pregnant?”

My father’s voice shot up an octave.

“She’s six weeks along,” Adrian said. “The ultrasound printout is over there.”

With trembling hands, my father picked up the printout.

He stared at the tiny shadow that looked no larger than a peanut, and his eyes suddenly reddened.

“Sweetheart,” he said, his voice thick with emotion, “are you absolutely sure? This isn’t something you can take lightly.”

I walked over and wrapped both hands around his arm.

“I’m sure, Dad. Adrian has been very good to me. You don’t have to worry.”

My father remained silent for a long time before finally sighing.

“All right. But if he ever hurts you, I’ll beat him myself.”

Dinner lasted until long after darkness had settled outside the windows.

When Adrian was about to leave, he took my hand near the front door.

“I’ll pick you up at nine tomorrow morning.”

“What are you picking me up for?”

“We’re getting married.” He looked at me with complete seriousness. “Grace, I don’t want to wait any longer in this life.”

I saw the resolve in his eyes and suddenly smiled.

“Okay.”

The comment feed filled with people sobbing.

[I’m crying like an idiot. He secretly loved her for seventeen years and died in their previous life without ever telling her.]

[When Mr. Prescott said, “If there’s another life,” he was making a wish. He wanted one more chance to love her properly.]

[God heard him and gave them both another chance.]

[I can’t handle this. The emotional weight of that black card just keeps growing.]

[That card held Mr. Prescott’s entire private safety net, the money he would have used to rebuild if everything collapsed. He gave it to her without hesitation because he trusted her completely.]

[He is giving her everything he failed to give her in their previous life.]

At exactly nine the next morning, Adrian’s car pulled up outside my building.

He stood beside it in a dark navy suit, his hair perfectly styled and a bouquet of white roses in his hands.

When I came downstairs, I noticed that the tips of his ears were red.

“Let’s go.”

He opened the car door for me, and his voice sounded slightly tense.

I climbed inside. He walked around to the other side, sat beside me, and took my hand.

“Are you nervous?” I asked.

“Yes,” he admitted. “This is more nerve-racking than any business deal I’ve ever negotiated.”

I squeezed his hand and laced my fingers through his.

“Adrian, I’m not nervous. I’ve been waiting for this day for two lifetimes.”

As the car moved through familiar streets, a question suddenly occurred to me.

“When did you start setting aside the money behind that black card for me?”

Adrian was silent for a moment.

“Seventeen years ago.”

“After I took that photograph, I opened the account and started putting money into it. I thought that when I finally found you, I would give you the card.”

I looked at my reflection in the car window as fresh tears slipped down my cheeks.

One final comment appeared before everything fell silent.

[What Adrian began depositing seventeen years ago wasn’t money. It was every piece of his heart.]