Chapter 65

Daniel personally delivered a healthy breakfast to Grandma Grace that morning.
When he tried to talk to Aurora, she ignored him as always.
Grandma Grace, claiming she wanted some soup from a café on the south side of town, sent Aurora out on an errand to get it.
Once they were alone, Daniel took the initiative to apologize. “Grandma, I should have taken better care of Aurora.”
He hadn’t slept all night; every time he closed his eyes, he saw the look of despair on Aurora’s face.
Grandma Grace simply asked, “Daniel, you’re a grown man. You should know that refusing to end something that needs ending only brings more trouble.”
“You won’t divorce Aurora, yet you go out of your way to defend Eleanor. Acting like this doesn’t just ruin your marriage with Aurora-it’s made things even worse between the sisters.”
These weren’t things Grandma Grace should have to spell out, but she couldn’t help thinking of Aurora and wanting what was best for her.
Daniel lowered his head, guilt written all over his face, though there was a trace of confusion in his voice. “Grandma, why does Aurora dislike Eleanor so much?”
They were sisters, after all. Shouldn’t they get along?
Grandma Grace sighed, her gaze distant as she dug up old memories she realized Daniel needed to hear.
“Aurora and Samuel are twins. Their parents handed them to me and Grandpa as soon as they were born. When Grandpa died, Samuel was three, and their parents came and took him home. But since their mother was pregnant again, they left Aurora with me.”
“They never talked about bringing Aurora back, hardly ever visited. When she was little, her classmates used to tease her, saying nobody wanted her.”
“When she was twelve, Aurora secretly took some money and ran away to Fairvale
Grandma Grace’s voice caught. “When I found her, she was standing on the sidewalk, staring into the house where her parents and brother were throwing a birthday party for the little sister she’d never even met.”
That was the moment Aurora finally understood she’d been abandoned.
After that, she never brought up going home to the Quinns again.
Daniel could picture it all too easily a twelve-year-old girl standing alone in the rain, gazing at the warm, bright windows where the family she longed for celebrated without her.
Grandma Grace sighed softly. “And your marriage? That only happened because I collapsed. Her parents pressured her to say yes, using me as leverage.”
Daniel was stunned. His emotions surged. All this time, he’d thought Aurora had agreed to marry him of her own free will.
“Daniel,” Grandma Grace said, her voice gentle but resolute, “for Aurora’s sake, I’m asking you as her grandmother: divorce her.”
Grandma Grace knew how much Aurora had suffered. This was all she wanted for her now.
If Aurora loved Daniel, she would have fought to keep Eleanor far away. But Grandma Grace knew Aurora only wanted to end this marriage.
Daniel pressed his lips together, his eyes dark and stormy.
“Eleanor has you to support her now, and the Quinn family behind her. She’ll be just fine-there’s no reason for you to keep dragging Aurora through this.”
Grandma Grace had heard everything that had happened that day. That’s why she was so determined to persuade Daniel to let go.
“For the sake of the three years she spent as your wife-and for the child she lost let her go, Daniel.”
When Daniel found Aurora, she was sitting on a bench outside the hospital wing, a quiet smile on her lips as she watched a young couple playing with their child nearby.
Daniel’s heart ached. Grandma Grace’s words echoed in his mind: for the sake of the child she lost…
He’d already lost that child. He didn’t want to lose his wife, too.
But what could he do to make it right? Updates are released by.net
As he pondered, he remembered the studio on Maple Street. Suddenly, a flicker of hope sparked within him.
He walked over quietly. “Aurora,” he called softly, “what are you doing out here?” Aurora looked up at him, her expression calm. “What did Grandma say to you?”