Chapter 26 A week after I returned to Orion Coast, I invited Chandler and Candace over to tell them about my trip. I opened the door to their smiling faces. "Hey!" "I'm surprised you're back so soon," Candace said as she stepped inside. "Yeah. Leaving when I did felt right." I looked down, expecting to find their little ones, but they'd come alone. "Where are the kids?" "With my mother," she said. "You should've brought them. They could've gone swimming." Candace shrugged. "We wanted to get the full scoop in peace. They don't give me a moment to think straight." "You love that, though," Chandler told her. "I do." She smiled. "So...we've been dying to know what happened with Primrose." "She cried when she found out you were okay." "Really? Oh my God. That makes me want to cry." Candace sighed. "She was always so nice. From the moment I met her, I loved her." I spent the next hour rehashing my trip. But it wasn't the fairy tale they'd hoped for. Certainly wasn't what I'd hoped for, either, though I had more peace now than before I went. Bittersweet was the best way to describe the experience. Candace squeezed my shoulder. "I'm proud of you for knowing when it was time to go. But please tell me you haven't given up hope." "He can't just sit and wait forever for her to come around," Chandler countered before turning to me. "She may very well decide to stay with this guy, and then where does that leave you?" "I have a lot to think about. But I feel at peace with her knowing the truth about what happened. I said what I needed to say, even if I didn't exactly get closure." Candace grimaced. "I couldn't imagine being in her position, finding out that everything you thought was true about the love of your life simply wasn't. But now you've already moved on and have a child. As a mother, I can totally relate to her deciding not to break up her family." Chandler wrapped his arm around her. "You're supposed to be on Dorian's side, babe." I sighed. "I don't even know if I'm on Dorian's side." I thought of Rosie's sweet little face and how she'd waved at me. "Haven't I disrupted Primrose's life enough? And that's without the guy or the little girl knowing I exist. Although, we had a near-miss with that. Almost accidentally met them." "What do you mean?" Candace leaned in. "Benjamin and I went to the supermarket, and the three of them were there. At first, it was just Primrose and her daughter, but before I could say anything, he appeared, too." Chandler's eyes widened. "No freaking way. What did you do?" "I pretended to be a stranger asking her whether the store sold wine." I shook my head. "Then Benjamin and I got the hell out of there before he suspected anything. But not before I turned around and saw her little girl looking back at me. Practically staring through my soul." Candace clutched her chest. "Oh, my heart." "Yeah. It messed me up inside." "What are you gonna do now?" Chandler asked. Throw myself into the mansion so I don't have to feel anything else. "I'm gonna try to breathe life into this place again. I have a gardener coming tomorrow to help me replicate my mother's rose garden." "That's amazing." Candace beamed. "I could totally help with that. I'm so glad you were able to buy this place back." "It's what my father would've wanted. More than that, it's what I wanted. It's bad enough that I gave up the company. The house is the last shred of what once was. It's a legacy I can handle, unlike the business, which was eating away at my soul." Chandler nodded. "Well, not for nothing, but you don't need the money. You made the right decision in unloading those problems onto someone else." "Not sure Remington would agree..." "Your father died because of his job," Chandler pointed out. "You nearly did. Pretty sure he'd be good with your decisions now." "You don't know my father very well, then." I laughed angrily. Candace pointed her finger at me. "I say good riddance to all the stress that came with running Vanderbilt. You deserve to have the life you dream of. You've sacrificed enough. I know what it's like to stare death in the face, and there's no substitute for peace of mind. Our time on Earth is too short to devote to something that doesn't speak to your soul. And life is also too short to live alone and not let love in. My kids have brought me more love than I could ever imagine. I hope someday you can experience having a child of your own." Pain moved through my chest. "I don't know if that's in the cards for me." "Primrose moved on because she thought you had broken up with her," Candace said. "But I guarantee you, she doesn't regret having her daughter, despite everything." "Of course she doesn't," I agreed. "You don't need to be hopelessly in love with someone to start a life and have children." She looked around. "Imagine being able to create a new story for this place." "I thought you were hoping for a miracle with Primrose. Now you think I should knock someone else up?" I challenged. "Well, of course I'm hoping for a miracle. But the reality is, you can't wait your entire life for her to come to her senses. There's always the chance that she'll just love you in secret and marry her daughter's father. I think if she goes through with this wedding, that should be your sign to move on." I nodded. "When is the wedding?" Chandler asked. "A little over five months away." He sighed. "Well, then, you'll know fairly soon, right?" "Right." Candace frowned. "Well, like I said, if she marries him, you do need to find a way to move on, even if you fake it 'til you make it." I'd done a lot of faking it in my lifetime but never when it came to my feelings. Not sure how I'd pretend to be in love when my heart belonged to someone else. *** Later that evening, the phone rang. When I saw Primrose's name on the screen, I couldn't pick it up fast enough. "Hey." She let out a breath. "Hi." "I wasn't expecting to hear from you." "I know." I wiped sweat from my forehead. "What's up?" "How have you been doing since returning to California?" "Things are okay. Trying to acclimate to the mansion again. Spent the day with Chandler and Candace, actually. They stopped by." "Ah." She paused. "That's great that you have them nearby again." There was something off about her tone. Dread filled me, and I tightened every muscle in my body in preparation for the worst. "What's going on, Primrose? I sense something in your voice." When she didn't immediately say anything, I realized what was happening here before she managed to get it out. Trying to sound strong, I said, "I've got all night...take your time. But I have a feeling I know what's coming." "You do?" "You're marrying him. You're trying to figure out a way to let me down easy. Am I right?" Rather than dispute it, she remained silent. That was all the confirmation I needed. "There's no such thing as making this easy for me, Primrose. I'm never going to want a life without you. But I have to accept whatever you decide is best for you." Acceptance was one thing. But it would be a while before the devastation wore off. The feeling of having been punched in the gut made me realize just how much I had been hanging on to the dream of getting to be with her again. I certainly hadn't expected her to come to this conclusion so soon. She finally spoke, her voice shaky. "I want to give my daughter the life I never had. That's what's most important right now. And you don't deserve to be strung along. You've been through enough. I didn't want to waste any more of your time." I closed my eyes, reluctant to speak. She'd hear the pain and sheer devastation in my voice. "I'll always cherish you, Dorian. I...just need to do what's best for my family." I'd somehow thought I was still her family. But I wasn't. The trauma from my abandonment had influenced this decision, too. She'd never be able to trust me the way she trusted him, a man who had no history of letting her down. And she'd never be able to give Rosie the life she felt her daughter deserved if she were to choose me. I understood it. Even if it killed me. I'd prepared for this moment, yet I didn't know what to say now that it was finally here. I hadn't realized how much it would hurt to be rejected by the only woman I'd ever loved. I felt foolish for having fantasized about her showing up at my door, telling me she couldn't live without me and that despite everything, we could make it work if we loved each other. Someone else would get to see her walking down the aisle toward him. Someone else would get to love her. Primrose and I were done. We're really done. "You need to do what you need to do, Primrose," I managed to mutter. "I feel terrible for doing this to you after everything we've been through, but I didn't want to put it off." "I'll be fine," I told her. The last thing I wanted was to make her feel guilty for putting her child first. It was hard to argue with that decision. "You're not doing anything to me. Don't look at it that way. You're just choosing to continue living the life I interrupted when I came to Ohio. Everything that transpired has been my fault, my doing." I fell silent, just breathing into the phone for several seconds. I can't believe this. "Are you okay?" she whispered. "I will be." My voice shook as I wiped a tear from my eye. "Are you crying?" I didn't want to admit it, but clearly it was obvious. I didn't answer. She sobbed into the phone. "I'm so sorry, Dorian." "Stop apologizing. You did nothing wrong, and I'll be okay." My tone was stern as I desperately tried to stifle my tears. Primrose sniffled. "I hate myself right now. I hate myself for hurting you like this after everything you've been through." "Sometimes we have to make tough decisions. Boy, do I know about that. I made one when I pretended not to love you anymore. And you're making one right now, pretending not to love me." In a romance-themed observation show, several participants undergo a series of interactions and conflicts filled with love, misunderstandings, and power struggles. In the end, one couple rises to over...