I never told my husband that I inherited $10 million.

“Have you ever loved me?” he asked quietly. His voice sounded as if it was coming from very far away.

I looked at him—I really looked at him—for the last time.

I was looking for a man to marry, a man I wanted to build a life with. But he wasn’t there. Maybe it never existed.

I didn’t answer right away. I let the question hang in the air, mixing with the sounds of city traffic.

Then I told the truth.

“I loved the person I thought you were. But this person did not exist.”

I turned and walked towards the car where Vanessa was waiting with the door open. I didn’t look back. With every step I took I felt lighter.

As I buckled Leo in the car seat and kissed him on the forehead, I realized that the inheritance wasn’t the greatest gift my grandfather had left me.

Money gave security, yes. But the timing? The timing was a miracle.

The greatest gift was that I was forced to see the truth before I wasted another decade watering a dead flower.

I started the engine and for the first time in a very long time, the road in front of me was wide open.

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