“Marry Me and I’ll Help Raise Your Daughters” — Billionaire to Single Dad, His Daughter Said…
Chapter 14
Our second wedding took place in the hospital garden.
The same place where Sophie had once fallen into the fountain.
The same place where Victoria had first looked at my daughters.
This time, there were no lawyers.
No trustees.
No conditions.
No family clauses.
Just us.
Emma walked beside Victoria.
Sophie carried the rings.
The little girl who had once whispered, “Dad, I think you should say yes,” now stood proudly beside the woman she called Mom.
When Victoria reached me, she smiled.
“You’re nervous.”
“Very.”
“Why?”
“This one is real.”
She laughed.
“It was real before.”
“Maybe.”
She took my hand.
“It was real the moment you stopped calling me Ms. Sterling.”
I smiled.
“When was that?”
“The first time you yelled at me for buying too many expensive groceries.”
“You bought imported strawberries.”
“They were on sale.”
“They were not.”
She laughed.
The ceremony began.
Emma gave the first reading.
She spoke about family.
Sophie cried before she even finished her part.
Everyone laughed.
Then it was our turn.
Victoria looked at me.
“I once thought a family was something you inherited.”
She glanced at the girls.
“Then I met three people who taught me otherwise.”
She smiled.
“I didn’t marry Daniel because I needed a husband.”
“I married him because I wanted these girls in my life.”
Her voice broke.
“And because I wanted him in mine.”
I took her hands.
“I thought I was protecting my daughters when I said yes to you.”
I looked at Emma and Sophie.
“But you protected all of us.”
I looked back at Victoria.
“You never tried to replace their mother.”
“You never asked me to forget my past.”
“You simply stayed.”
She cried.
“So did you.”
I smiled.
The officiant pronounced us married again.
Sophie shouted,
“Again!”
Everyone laughed.
Afterward, we danced.
The girls danced with us.
No one cared about the company.
No one cared about the family fortune.
No one even mentioned the old conspiracy.
For one evening, we were simply a family celebrating being together.
Later, Victoria and I stood alone beneath the garden lights.
“You know what I keep thinking about?”
“What?”
“That first proposal.”
I laughed.
“You mean when you casually walked into my kitchen and told me to marry you?”
“Yes.”
“I thought you were insane.”
“You did.”
“And now?”
She smiled.
“Now?”
“I think you were brave.”
She took my hand.
“I was terrified.”
“Of me?”
“No.”
She looked toward the girls.
“Of losing them.”
I understood.
“You didn’t.”
“No.”
She leaned against me.
“I gained them.”
Then she looked at me.
“And you.”
I kissed her.
She whispered,
“Thank you for saying yes.”
I smiled.
“Thank your daughter.”
She laughed.
“Which one?”
“Both.”
We looked toward Emma and Sophie.
They were dancing badly.
Very badly.
I smiled.
“Look at them.”
Victoria nodded.
“They’re happy.”
“They are.”
She squeezed my hand.
“So am I.”
