She Loved a Poor Gardener—Then Discovered He Was the Heir to a Fortune
Chapter 14
Twenty years after their first meeting, Clara and Thomas returned to Blackwood Manor.
The estate had changed hands.
The old greenhouse remained.
The apple tree was still there.
Thomas walked into the garden alone.
He found the rosebush gone.
For a moment, he was disappointed.
Then Clara called his name.
She stood beside a new garden bed.
“I planted another.”
Thomas smiled.
“Why?”
“Because things grow back.”
He walked toward her.
“You knew I’d come here.”
“I hoped.”
They stood together.
The old manor no longer frightened either of them.
Clara looked at him.
“Do you ever regret leaving the garden?”
Thomas shook his head.
“No.”
“Not even once?”
“Never.”
“Why?”
He looked at her.
“Because I didn’t leave it.”
She smiled.
“The garden followed you?”
“No.”
He touched her hand.
“You did.”
She leaned against him.
For all the fortune Thomas inherited, all the ships he controlled, all the estates bearing his name, that moment remained the wealth he valued most.
A woman who had loved him before knowing his fortune.
A life built not on inheritance, but on trust.
And a garden that had once taught two frightened people that something damaged could still bloom.
