“The proposal?”
“We don’t have emails that explicit.”
“Was any of it real?”
Daniel was silent.
“I can’t answer that.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“That’s the only question I care about.”
“I know.”
There was one email I had not read.
Dated three weeks before our wedding.
From Adrian.
To Victoria.
I opened it while Daniel was still on the phone.
Mother,
Stop sending me financial projections.
I know why this started.
I know what you wanted.
But it isn’t like that anymore.
I love her.
If the trust disappeared tomorrow, I would still marry her.
Do not bring this up again.
My heart stopped.
For one terrible, glorious second, relief flooded through me.
He loved me.
The beginning had been engineered, but somewhere along the way—
He loved me.
I pressed my hand to my mouth.
Daniel said my name.
I barely heard him.
