Chapter 172
Chapter 172
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Claire’s POV
1 had barely processed the news before George rushed toward in and crushed me in his embrace. Whatever hesitations he had previously shown toward me were gone in an instant, and he held me like he was proud of me, like we had been reunited after a long time apart.
Maybe this was true, but it was all new to me. He might remember holding me as a baby, but I was unaccustomed to being so easily accepted.
“My darling daughter,” he said, and his voice was wet. That alone among everything else, was enough to bring tears to my
own eyes.
I lifted my hands, pressed them to his back and held him as tightly.
“Too many years I’ve spent without you,” he whispered. “I had been so sure you perished like your mother. But now you are here. You are here and I am blessed once more. And with grandchildren no less!”
He pulled back from me, but only far enough to look at my face. His hands stayed tight on my upper arms, keeping me close.
“My daughter. My Claire. You look so much like your mother, I thought I had dreamed it. But no. You are here and you are real. Thank the Gods. I have to tell people. I have to tell everyone!”
“Let’s not get too excited, dear,” Victoria said. “Be careful of your heart condition.”
“My heart is fine,” George said. “I feel better than I have in years.
I did too. My heart was so warm that I struggled to even confine my happiness. It burst out of me like water from a broken vase, splashing in all directions.
As George released me, turning to speak with his wife, Gideon took the open spot beside me. He leaned into me, nudging me with his arm. I was still crying. He handed me his sleeve and used it to wipe at my eyes. I felt badly for wetting his clothing, but he didn’t seem to mind at all. In fact, through my blurry vision, I swore I saw a smile.
“I’m happy for you,” he whispered.
“Are you sure this was legitimate?” Susanne asked. Just as I could see Gideon’s smile, I could see her glare. Though her disgust was loud and clear in her voice, I wouldn’t have had to see it to know. “Maybe you should get a second test done. Or even a third. She could have set something up to sabotage the results somehow.”
“Impossible,” George said. “I know every healer at that hospital. They wouldn’t have done something like that. This is legitimate, Susanne. You have a sister. Why aren’t you happy?”
“Why should I be happy that someone is trying to trick you, father? Why should I be happy that someone wants to take my place!”
“No one is taking your place,” Victoria told her daughter, though it sounded less like a scolding for such an outburst and more like reassurance.
“We have gained a family member on this day. No, three. Claire and her children,” George said firmly. “We have lost nothing. And we should all remember that.”
This, this sounded like a scolding.
Looking at me, he said, “Daughter, come. Let us go for a walk in the gardens. I’m sure there is much you wish to know about your mother.”
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Chapter 172
“I do,” I said.
་
Gideon gave me a gentle nudge, encouraging me to move forward.
“Don’t take too much time,” Victoria said. “Dinner will be ready on.”
“You worry too much, darling,” George said.
Susanne continued to glare at me.
6 youchers
I went with George out into the garden. We walked for a while in companionable silence, before George stopped in front of an azalea bush and turned to me.
“You look so much like her,” he said. “My beautiful Lena.”
“What was she like?” I asked.
He smiled at the memories. “She was so full of life. She laughed at everything, her laughter as bright as beautiful as the chime of a bell. And she could cook. Gods, to taste her pastries again. No chef I ever hired had been able to replicate her recipe.”
His smile softened as he returned to this moment with me. “When she was pregnant, that was the happiest I had ever seen her. She loved you so much. She would read to you, alone in the study. She said she wanted you to know the sound of her voice. I wasn’t sure you could hear her in her stomach, but that didn’t matter. If anything, I thought you’d be able to hear her happiness. Those were such good days.”
“What happened to her?” I asked. “How did she die, and why doesn’t anyone talk about it?”
At once, his entire demeanor shifted, closing off, growing hard. “Ask me anything in the world that you want to know about your mother. About me. About our life together. But do not ask me that. I will not relive those moments. The worst of my entire life.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to cause you pain.” Regret surged within me. I had so many questions about her death, but… I didn’t want to hurt my father. I had just as many, if not more questions about her while she had been alive. “I have other questions. What was her favorite thing to bake?”
“Ah,” George said, and seemed to come back to life again. “Yes. That I can remember.”
As we talked, I was careful not to broach the topic of my mother’s death again.
Gideon’s POV
After Claire left with the King – er, her father – the babysitter went with the kids up to their room for a nap. This left me alone in the room with Susanne, who I didn’t know particularly well. I felt like I had seen her here and there, but we never had a full discussion. At least, not that I remembered.
She was friendly though, I could tell from the way she approached me, smiling softly. She placed a hand on my chest.
Strange, she was being nice now when she had been so rude to Claire before. Perhaps if I buttered her up some, I could convince her to give Claire a chance. I knew Claire would like the chance to have a sister, after having spent so much time all on her own in the past.
“I can’t believe those children are yours,” she said. “You look too young to be a father.”
“I’m not that young,” he said. “And the kids are only six. It makes sense.”
“It seems strange that you can still be friends with your ex,” Susanne said.
“We’ve had our ups and downs, but..”
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Chapter 172
“The kids probably need a good female role model in their life. Maybe 1 can help you with that.”
“That’s kind of you to suggest, but really, Claire is their mother and she does a good job of it. There isn’t anyone else I could imagine in the role.”
She winced a little before her smile returned full blast. Then she leaned closer. “Maybe you need to more imagination.”
“No…? I think I’m okay,” I said. She was being friendly sure, but also a little weird. Still, I wanted her to like Claire so I stuck with it. “Claire is really great.”
“Sure.” Susanne said. “But what if there was someone better.
“There is no one better,” I said. What an odd thing for her to have said. “If you will excuse me, I think I hear her outside. I want to make sure everything is going okay.”
Susanne’s POV
Gideon excused himself and stepped around me, walking out of the room, chasing after that imposter like she was anything to write home about.
It would only be a matter of time before I changed his mind though.
I knew I wanted him from the moment I saw him. As princess, I always got what I wanted.
AD
