I turned toward him.
“What arrangement?”
“Foster care, maybe. They can’t live with us permanently.”
“They’re my brothers. They lost both parents. They’re staying with me until they’re grown.”
His expression hardened.
“I’m not raising somebody else’s children. Put them in foster care, or the wedding is canceled.”
For several seconds, I could not speak.
This was the man who had promised to stand beside me. The man my brothers trusted. The man my mother had called good.
“They have nobody else,” I said. “How can you ask me to abandon them?”
“I’m not destroying my life for two children who aren’t mine. Choose them or choose me.”
Something inside me became completely still.
I wanted to scream, throw the engagement ring at him, and order him out. But a quiet breakup was not enough. A man willing to discard two orphaned children deserved to reveal himself in front of everyone.
So I smiled.
“You’re right.”
Elliot blinked.
“Seriously?”
“I’ll do what you asked, but I want one final family outing first. Just the four of us.”
He rolled his eyes.
“Fine, but I’m not paying.”
“I’ll handle everything.”
He relaxed, convinced he had won.
“Where are we going?”
“The state fair.”
He cupped my face and smiled.
“After this, we can finally begin our real life. Just you and me.”
“Just you and me,” I repeated.
He never noticed the coldness in my voice.
PART 2: ONE LAST FAMILY TRIP
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