NovelTrueChapter 559
"Our happy ending? You used to say that even if we never had a picture-perfect family, you and | could still be
together, always."
"And you promisedthat if you ever got married, you'd never let the world know who your wife was."
"And there's more-"
"Sheila." Timothy cut her off gently, calling her name. "Back then, | agreed to keep my wife's identity private
because | understood why you turneddown-for the sake of your grandparents. | felt for you, | really did. You
were struggling, and | couldn't bear to see you so upset. But now, | have a wife and a son. | just hope you can
understand how complicated things are forat this point, okay?"
"| can't, Timothy. | just can't. After all these years, don't you know I'm still-deeply, hopelessly-in love with you?"
"I'm exhausted, Sheila. | haven't had a decent night's sleep in ages. Can we please just stop talking about this?"
With every word Sheila spoke, Timothy only felt more certain that he'd made a mistake.
He had moved on from that almost-marriage a long tago.
She had always clung to her role as the adopted granddaughter, and because of that, he'd treated her as kindly
as ever. He never thought much of it—it was just habit. But now he realized that, to her, it must have looked like
something more. He'd given her hope without meaning to.
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No wonder Jessica misunderstood.
If even Sheila could get the wrong idea, how could Jessica not?
Jessica had insisted on a divorce and had brought up Sheila more than once, but because Timothy never had any
romantic feelings for Sheila-none whatsoever- he hadn't taken Jessica's concerns seriously. He hadn't bothered to
explain, and every the planned to, something else cup. He thought there was still time, that he could
clear things up later.
But by putting it off again and again, he'd left Jessica in the dark for too long, and now it had all fallen apart.
He needed to deal with this-now, decisively.
"Timothy..."
Sheila was sobbing now, her voice thick with tears.
He felt guilty. After all, she'd once saved his life. Hearing her cry made his own heart ache.
But he made himself stay firm. "Look, Sheila, | know exactly why | wanted to marry you back then. | was grateful.
That's all. There was never any love-only gratitude. With Jessy, it's different. The moment | saw her, | knew |
wanted to marry her. | was the one who proposed. To reassure you and keep you from overthinking, | might've
made it sound like | proposed to you on a whim, but honestly, do you really believe I'd just pick any woman to be
my wife? Really think about it."
Timothy was drained, almost too tired to keep talking.
But he forced himself to finish. Sheila needed to hear the truth.
"So you never loved me? Not even
when you
askedto marry you? Everything you did for me-it wasn't
out of love?"
"No, Sheila Never. | was grateful, that's all | married you out of gratitude. | was kind to you
gratitude. Nothing more net
His answer was steady and unflinching.
Sheila couldn't say another word.
She ended the call.
The line went dead, the dial tone buzzing in his ear.
Timothy finally let out a long breath.
He was so tired.
All he wanted was to fall asleep in Jessy's arms.
He felt like he was about to collapse.
Switching his phone to silent,
Timothy lay down on the empty net
I bed beside him. Cont
After hanging up, Sheila twisted open a bottle of wine.
She was hurting, deep down. The pain was almost unbearable.
All she wanted was to drink herself numb.
She was perfectly capable of drinking; that had never been the issue.
Her vocal cords were just fine, too—there was nothing wrong with them.
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