Chapter 389:

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“Raina and her bastard children don’t belong here! None of them do! That devil’s spawn was never supposed to survive, never supposed to find her family! I was supposed to be this family’s daughter, no one else but me! And she stole it! That whore stole it from me!”

I didn’t need anyone to tell me the woman had lost her mind.

“I should’ve seen it,” Raina whispered. “I should’ve known. But I was too distracted, and I—”

“No,” I said gently, cupping her face in my hands. “Don’t say that. None of this is your fault. Okay?”

She nodded, more tears sliding down her cheeks.

RAINA

Five years later.

Five years had passed, but it didn’t feel like it. It felt longer, like a whole lifetime had unfolded, because so much had happened in that stretch of time.

It was as though I’d been reborn into a newer, stronger version of myself, one I never thought I’d find after everything we’d survived. But here I was, stronger, happier, with a heart full of love and loved just as fiercely in return.

I had a home filled with laughter, a man who’d become everything I’d once only dreamed of, and two beautiful children whose laughter I’d fight the whole world to keep hearing every morning.

𝖳𝗵𝘦 𝗯𝗲ѕ𝘁 𝗋𝘦𝘷і𝖾𝗐ѕ 𝘰𝘯 𝗴𝘢𝗅ոo𝗏e𝗹𝘀.сo𝗆

Alex hadn’t just become the perfect partner. He’d become my peace. My friend. My life.

I was truly happy, with my husband, my children, and every holiday and birthday spent surrounded by my family. I felt for him sometimes, knowing how much he missed his own, but he always assured me he’d choose me and the kids over people who couldn’t respect me.

That didn’t stop him from wishing, quietly, that his family could be part of it too.

Our children, Ava and Liam, were five now, thriving in school. I glanced over my shoulder to find Alex crouched down, adjusting the tiny collar of Liam’s button-up shirt, already dressed sharp in his own suit and tie, looking every bit the proud father. His brows furrowed in concentration while Liam squirmed and fidgeted like he was trying to escape a fashion ambush.

“Ava, sweetheart, stop twirling,” I said, turning to smooth her frilly skirt into place. “It’s almost on.”

She giggled and spun anyway, dark curls bouncing around her cheeks. “But Mommy, I’m a fairy princess today.”

I smiled, shaking my head. She had Alex’s eyes and my stubbornness, both of them, tiny mirror images of the love we’d fought so hard to hold onto.

We had built a home out of wreckage, stitched a family back together from broken trust, and now we stood on the edge of something new. But this time, it wasn’t born from survival. It was about legacy.

I’d spent the past several months working alongside Dom at the company, and today was the day. More than a celebration, it was my unveiling. The moment the world would learn I wasn’t just Alex’s wife or the mother of his children. Today, I’d be introduced as a Graham daughter, not just in name, but in blood, presence, and power.

I hadn’t told Alex yet. I’d been keeping a different secret.

My fingers rested lightly against my stomach.

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