My Grandson’s Fiancée Called Me His Mistress Chapter 09
Dust to Dust, Empire Remains
Sera’s eyes widen. She clearly never expected Lucas to learn the truth. She scrambles to her feet, her voice pleading.
“That’s not it, Lucas! That’s not it at all!”
“I was scared that after five years apart, you didn’t love me anymore. Please don’t be angry. I know I was wrong.”
Hearing her dodge the real issue yet again, Lucas feels another wave of disappointment.
No wonder she said what she said the day she landed. What kind of fiancée tells a man sex and love are two separate things?
He blamed her words on five difficult years overseas. Now he understands that she never loved him at all.
She only needed someone to fall back on when everything else collapsed.
He pulls his hand free, voice flat and cold.
“We’re getting a divorce.”
“The papers will be at your door tomorrow morning. Sign them if you want to keep this simple. If you don’t, I’ll take you to court for marital fraud.”
The color drains from Sera’s face.
I get the call from Marcus while I’m walking back down from the coastal cemetery.
“Mom. Lucas is divorcing her.”
“Her father is already demanding a settlement. He claims his daughter was wronged and wants compensation for emotional distress.”
I brush a little ash from the memorial incense off my sleeve.
“Then let him handle it himself. He’s twenty-something years old. He can’t keep hiding behind other people to clean up his messes forever.”
Marcus makes a sound of agreement.
The divorce doesn’t go quietly. A marriage collapsing in less than a month is exactly the kind of scandal this city devours, and the story is everywhere within a day.
Sera comes back one more time, begging for a second chance. Lucas doesn’t budge an inch.
“Sera. I waited five years for you.”
“Not once in all that time did I betray you. I told myself you must have had a reason for disappearing. I never imagined you left because you wanted to, or that I was only your backup plan in case everything else fell apart.”
“I never actually meant anything to you. You only came back because you needed a fool who’d still be waiting.”
“And because I couldn’t see any of that, I ended up hurting the one person who actually loved me my entire life.”
“Once this divorce is finalized, I’m going to my great-grandfather’s grave to make it right. And then I’m going to spend as long as it takes earning my grandmother’s forgiveness back.”
He means every word. There’s nothing soft left in his voice.
After the case is settled, Lucas throws himself into running the family business. He stops hesitating and looking to others to make every decision. Little by little, he begins to sound like his father and carry himself like his grandfather.
He still makes mistakes, but now he owns them before anyone else can. He arrives first, leaves last, and listens when the older captains challenge him. For the first time, I can see the beginnings of a man capable of carrying the Moretti name without hiding behind it.
I tell Vincent all about it, wiping the incense dust off his headstone with an old handkerchief.
“Well, Vincent. Your family’s in good hands now. I think I’ve earned myself a few quiet years, don’t you?”
“Give me a little more time, and I’ll come find you. Don’t you dare mention any of this when I get there, or I won’t marry you again in the next life.”
A warm breeze brushes my cheek, almost like a hand resting against my face.
I smile quietly to myself.
I spent decades building this family and decades more holding it together.
Now, finally, it’s time for a few peaceful days of my own.