He left me when I refused to end my pregnancy. Five years later, he saw my twins at a mall, and his mother’s two-million-dollar lie finally came crashing down.
“I told you to leave us alone, Damien,” she said, her voice tight and defensive.
“I know about my mother,” Damien said softly, stopping several feet away. He held out a copy of the investigation file, along with a legal document he had signed that morning. “I didn’t know she threatened you. I didn’t know she tried to buy you off. But that doesn’t excuse my cowardice five years ago. I came here to give you this.”
Mara reluctantly took the papers. As she read through them, her eyes widened.
Damien had legally legally signed over a blind trust of half his net worth directly to the boys, completely structured so that Victoria Mercer could never touch them or contest custody. Furthermore, he had voluntarily waived any right to force his way into their lives through a court order.
“I’m not here with lawyers, Mara,” Damien whispered, tears finally blurring his vision. “I’m not here to fight you, or to force them to know me. I threw away that right when I pushed that envelope across the table. I just… I wanted you to know that they are safe from my family. And that I am so, so sorry.”
He turned to walk away, his chest aching with a pain he knew he deserved.
“Damien.”
He stopped, turning back slowly.
