“I don’t give it to you. I’m just not going to lie to you to make it prettier.
I wanted to hate him for that.
I couldn’t.
“What does all this have to do with asking me to be your wife?”
For the first time, Jonathan looked uncomfortable.
“It wasn’t the right way to say it.
—It was quite a memorable way.
“I know.
“Explain yourself.
He looked at my children.
“Your father left a trust. Big. Very big. But I couldn’t leave it in your name directly because Raymond still controlled certain family documents and would have tried to block everything.
I crossed my arms.
“My uncle doesn’t have the money to block anything.
Jonathan let out a dry laugh.
“Raymond has more money than he told you. A lot came out of accounts that belonged to your father.
My stomach closed.
“I don’t understand.
“The night Samuel disappeared, he wasn’t running away from an accident. He was running away from your uncle.
The air became heavy.
“No.
“Raymond had forged signatures, sold parts of the land at Carter Ridge, and diverted money from a mining company that your father discovered by chance. Samuel was going to deliver evidence to federal authorities.
“But he disappeared.
“Because someone tried to kill him before he arrived.”
Sofia raised her head when she heard the word kill.
I bit my tongue.
Jonathan noticed.
“I’m sorry.
“Go on.
“Samuel survived. But he was injured. And when she understood that Raymond was also watching your mother and you, she decided to legally disappear until she could gather enough evidence without putting yourself in danger.
My throat filled with rage.
“And you decided that letting me believe you were dead was protection?”
“Yes.
“That’s not protection. That is abandonment with a noble excuse.
Jonathan did not defend my father.
That surprised me.
“Sometimes people you love make terrible decisions thinking that silent pain is safer than visible danger.
I looked at the photo.
My father smiled at her.
Alive.
Hidden.
Far from me.
Far from all the birthdays, graduations, nights when I cried in the bathroom because I didn’t know how to be a single mother.
“And who were you to him?”
“First your lawyer. Then his partner. In the end… almost a son.
That hurt in an unexpected way.
My father had had an almost son while I was growing up with a ghost.
Jonathan saw it in my face.
“I never tried to take your place.
“But you were there.
“Yes.
“And I don’t.
There was no possible consolation for that.
Jonathan lowered his head.
“No.
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