“Not once–never–did anyone ask me if I wanted this life. If I wanted to be their heir.”
My eyes brimmed with tears.
I was afraid to even blink.
My hands trembled with hesitation.
I reached out and wrapped my arms around him, so lightly and carefully, afraid that if I held too tightly, he might break completely.
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+15 BONUS
Noah had always worked harder than anyone else.
Even as a child, he was different.
While the other kids played, he memorized poetry while feeding the pigs.
While they ran through fields, he recited multiplication tables as he cut grass.
Without books or pencils, he used a stick to trace numbers in the dirt, reviewing everything he learned in school.
Even in the freezing winters, when his hands were covered in chilblains, Noah never stopped studying
I used to ask him all the time, “Noah, why do you work so hard?”
His small eyes sparkled as he looked out toward the distant mountains.
“Because when I grow up, I want to be someone who makes a difference.
“I want the people in this town who don’t have enough to eat to have warm meals. I want those without homes to have a roof over
their heads. I want the children who don’t have schools to finally sit in a classroom and learn.
“I want our country to keep getting better. I want our lives to keep getting better.”
Noah always carried something bigger than himself in his heart.
I couldn’t be the one to hold him back
He fell silent, and so did I.
The air in the car was unbearably heavy, pressing down on us both.
After a long pause, his voice softened, pleading.
“Chloe, don’t give up on me. Please. Just give me a little more time. I can fix this.”
I rested my head against his shoulder and shook my head.
“You can’t. Noah, if there had been another way, you wouldn’t have married Sharon two years ago.
“If you could walk away from your responsibilities and if you could turn your back on the Wells family, on the company and the
thousands of employees depending on you, you wouldn’t have waited this long to come back for me.
“You made your decision a long time ago.”
The tension in his arms loosened.
Tears spilled down my cheeks without warning.
“Noah, I’ve wanted to marry you for as long as I can remember. Since I was a little girl, that thought has always been there, growing inside me. But I can’t use my love to chain you
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Chapter 13
down.”
