She Loved a Poor Gardener—Then Discovered He Was the Heir to a Fortune
Chapter 9
The trial lasted months.
Every week, more evidence appeared.
William’s accounts were examined.
His hidden debts were exposed.
The forged contracts were presented.
The solicitor’s confession was authenticated.
Finally, the court recognized Thomas as the rightful heir.
The Reed fortune was returned.
Ships.
Warehouses.
Farmland.
Trading rights.
Thousands of pounds.
More wealth than Thomas had ever imagined.
But when the lawyers asked him what he intended to do with it, he gave a surprising answer.
“First, pay everyone my family cheated.”
The lawyers stared.
“All of them?”
“All.”
“What about the estate?”
“Repair it.”
“The ships?”
“Make the crews’ wages fair.”
“And your personal fortune?”
Thomas smiled.
“I have already spent most of my life without it.”
Clara stood nearby.
He looked at her.
“I don’t need much.”
She laughed.
“You say that now.”
He smiled.
“Perhaps.”
They married the following spring.
There was no extravagant ceremony.
Thomas refused one.
Clara wore a simple ivory gown.
The garden was filled with roses.
The same rosebush they had saved years earlier had grown into a massive flowering plant.
After the ceremony, Thomas brought Clara beneath it.
“You remember?”
She smiled.
“You almost killed it.”
“You saved it.”
“No.”
He shook his head.
“We saved it.”
She looked at him.
“That sounds like something a rich man would say.”
Thomas laughed.
“I suppose I am a rich man now.”
“Does it feel different?”
He thought about it.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because you loved me before you knew.”
Clara rested her head against his shoulder.
“And you?”
“What?”
“Did you love me before you knew I would stay?”
Thomas smiled.
“I hoped.”
