Instead, I asked why.
“Because I trust you more than my own family,” he said.
When I told Violet, everything changed.
She didn’t laugh.
“I thought you had more self-respect,” she said quietly. “But you’re just like everyone else.”
That hurt more than anything.
“Pride is expensive,” I replied. “You’ve had the luxury of keeping yours.”
She told me to leave.
So I did.
Three weeks later, I married her grandfather.
The wedding was small, expensive, and uncomfortable.
There was a fifty-year age gap—and no romance.
Violet didn’t even look at me.