The Marriage Sacrifice

“Your dad’s a real piece of work. I thought they were divorce papers,” he said.

“Divorce papers?”

“After everything.”

She looked at him. “I know in the beginning you wanted me to fall in love with you, but you told me you loved me. You told me it wasn’t a lie. Looking back, I’m shocked. I wasn’t exactly nice to you, or kind. I was a big bitch. I was scared. You loved being a playboy and having all these women at your feet. I didn’t know what to think or to do. I panicked, and in doing so, I made mistakes. I’m sorry. I truly am, and I know that in time, I can make it up to you.”

“It wasn’t a lie. I love you more than anything in the world. I want to be with you, Sage. I want to make this up to you, not the other way around.”

“And it’s why I didn’t go to a lawyer to divorce you. I was upset, but I’m not going to hold all of this against you. I’ve seen some of the data and saw your shares and the way your business has been declining in the last year. I also stole my father’s files on the Booker deal. I want you to know he’d been putting pressure on Booker, working it so he’d come to us. It hadn’t happened. I called Booker myself, and I’ve set up a meeting with him for next week.”

“Sage?”

“I don’t want to see you fail, Dom. I can’t be responsible for thousands of people being out of work. I want to help. I want to make this up to you. All this time, you’ve been dealing with this stress. I really wish I hadn’t been so mean to you. I’m not going to give you my shares of my grandfather’s company. He didn’t want that. I’m hoping that you and I can work together. He believed in me, and I think it’s time I believed in myself and in you. I’ll provide you everything you need, and we do this, side by side.”

“You’re offering me a business deal?”

“Yes.”

“Can I say how hot you look right now?”

“You think I look hot dressed like this?”

“No, you came back.”

“I wasn’t going to go anywhere. I was hurt, but after I sat back and thought about it, I got it. I did. I mean, it was upsetting to know you were that desperate. I don’t know how desperate you are.”

“On the day of our wedding, I couldn’t pay the electric bill,” he said, being completely honest.

“Oh.”

“With all these shares, you no longer have to work.”

“I love what I do more than anything. I won’t stop. This doesn’t change much for me,” she said. “I did have a small sum that I played with. It was really small, and I used it in stock markets. I remember my grandparents’ informal training, and I used that. I’ll still continue to invest in the markets, and I use the profit to donate to the charities I love, and reinvest the original sum.”

“How did I not know this about you?”

“You saw a rebellious girl. You didn’t look deeper for anything else. Just like I didn’t for you. That was my mistake, and now I’m looking at the real Dom and he’s quite a guy.” She shrugged. “I guess this is my secret coming out. Not that it was an old secret. I only found out a week ago. I hope you can forgive me.”

“You really didn’t know?”

“I didn’t even suspect a little bit,” she said. “I’m blown away by this in all honesty. I can’t believe my grandparents could do this, but then, they were always brilliant and knew what they were doing. I miss them so much. I feel like I need them to tell me what to do. There’s so much to learn.”

“I’ll be there to help you. Your father’s not going to be happy.”

“He’s not happy. He’s tried to contest this, but my grandparents put everything in place. A full medical, trusted lawyers and board members. They were both of sound mind and body when this was done.”

“Would you have still married me, knowing this?” he asked.

“Dom, I’m going to stay married to you. If I’d have known what was going on before I fell in love with you, I wouldn’t have married you. This is our second chance.”

“You did fall in love with me.”

“Yes, and unless you want to divorce me, I don’t want to throw this marriage away. I love you. You mean everything to me.” She put the files down on his desk before coming toward him. She placed her hands on his chest. “All the time you spent with me when I thought you were thinking about someone else, or wishing you were elsewhere, you were trying to figure this out, weren’t you?”