Chapter 4 - Echoes of the Past
Despite our legal progress, the emotional chasm between Josephine and me remained vast. I moved into a separate wing of the estate to give her space, focusing entirely on providing for the twins—whom we formally named Leo and Maya—and securing their future.
One afternoon, I found Josephine in the garden. The weather was crisp, and the babies were sleeping peacefully in a double stroller beside her. I walked up slowly and sat on the stone bench nearby.
"Winston found the doctor who treated you at the county hospital," I said softly.
Josephine kept her gaze fixed on the autumn leaves falling across the lawn. "Dr. Evans. He was the only person who was kind to me."
"He confirmed that Felicity’s lawyers presented him with a forged legal power of attorney claiming I had refused all financial and medical responsibility for the pregnancy," I continued, my voice thick with emotion. "He wanted to help you, but they threatened to revoke his medical license."
Josephine wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "Do you know what the hardest part was, Bennett? It wasn't the hunger or the cold. It was looking at their little faces every day and seeing your eyes. Every time they smiled, I was reminded of the man who promised to protect me forever and then vanished when I needed him most."
I dropped my head into my hands, crushed under the weight of my own past foolishness. "I don't know how to ask for your forgiveness, Josephine. I know I don't deserve it. If you want me to leave once all of this is over—if you want to take the children and live somewhere far away from me—I will finance everything and stay out of your life."
She was silent for a long time. The wind rustled through the trees.
May you like
"I don't want you out of their lives, Bennett," she said softly, looking over at the stroller. "They need a father. But I need time to figure out if the man I married still exists underneath all this damage."
"Take all the time you need," I whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."
