Chapter 10 The Proposal
Three months after that night in the office, Sean took Molly and the children to an island called Marinara Island.
It was beautiful. There were white beaches and palm trees and water so blue it didn't look real.
They stayed in a big house with ten rooms and a view of the ocean.
The children were happy. They played on the beach and collected shells and didn't think about their sad life back in the city.
Molly was happy too.
On the last night of their vacation, Sean told Molly to get dressed in something nice.
He took her to a restaurant on the beach. The sun was setting, and everything was painted orange and pink and gold.
They sat at a table with candles and the most expensive food Molly had ever eaten.
"I wanted to bring you somewhere beautiful," Sean said. "Because you deserve beautiful things. You deserve to be treated like you matter. Like you're the most important person in the world."
Molly smiled, and for the first time, she didn't pull away when Sean reached for her hand.
"I have spent the last six months trying to be worthy of you," Sean continued. "I've been going to therapy. I've been reading about what it means to be a good father. I've been learning how to love in a way that isn't selfish or cruel."
He stood up from the table.
"Molly May, I know I don't deserve you. I know that I hurt you in the past and that you have every reason to never trust me again. But I'm asking you to take a chance on me anyway."
He pulled a box from his pocket.
Inside was a ring made of white gold with a diamond that sparkled like a star.
"Will you marry me?" Sean asked.
Molly's hands started to shake.
"I need to be honest with you," Sean continued. "I need to tell you that I'm not a perfect man. I'm going to make mistakes. I'm going to hurt you sometimes, accidentally. But I promise that I will spend every single day for the rest of my life trying to be the man you deserve. I promise that I will never leave. I promise that I will love you and our children with everything I have."
Tears were streaming down Molly's face.
"I can't..." she started.
"It's okay if you need time," Sean said. "I'm not asking for an answer right now. I'm just asking you to think about it. To think about whether you believe that I can change. Whether you think we can build something real together."
But Molly grabbed his hand.
"Yes," she said. "Yes, I'll marry you."
\---
The news spread fast.
By the time they got back to Northfolk, reporters knew about the engagement.
"The mysterious engagement of CEO Sean Anderson!" one headline said.
"From rags to riches: The poor woman who captured the heart of one of the country's richest men!" said another.
Some articles were happy. Some were cruel.
Diana May saw the news and something inside her broke.
She had always wanted Sean Anderson to notice her. She had tried for years to get his attention. And he had fallen for Molly—a peasant from the countryside, a woman with no money, no education, nothing.
Diana decided that she needed to do something.
She called a reporter at a gossip magazine.
\---
Three days before the wedding was supposed to happen, Molly woke up to find her face on the cover of every newspaper in the city.
The headline read: "THE TRIPLETS' TRUE STORY: Molly May's Secret Love Child Affair!"
The article told everything. It told about how she had been disowned by her family. It told about how she had raised three children in poverty. It told about how she had worked as a house cleaner before seducing the rich CEO.
But it also said something that made Molly's blood go cold.
It said that Sean had paid money to Diana May in exchange for her silence about something.
It said that Diana May had evidence of something terrible that Sean had done.
It said that the wedding was a coverup.
Molly showed the article to Sean.
His face went very pale.
"This is not true," he said. "I have never given Diana any money. I have never tried to hide anything."
"Then where is this coming from?" Molly demanded.
"I don't know. But we need to find out before it destroys everything."
That night, Sean met with his lawyer and his investigator.
What they discovered was that Diana May had been in serious financial trouble. She had gambled away her family money. She had been desperate and angry.
And she had decided to destroy Molly to destroy Sean.
Diana had created the story about the payoff. She had leaked it to the press. She had made it all up.
But the damage was done.
The wedding was supposed to be in two days.
Now Molly was wondering if she had made a terrible mistake.
\---
Molly took the children and went to her apartment. She told Sean that she needed space to think.
"I don't know if I can do this," she told him. "I don't know if I can handle the publicity. I don't know if I can be married to someone whose life is this complicated."
"Then don't," Sean said. "If you don't want to marry me, then don't. But don't leave because of Diana. Don't leave because of what other people think."
"I'm leaving because I'm scared," Molly said. "And I'm leaving because I don't know if I can trust that everything you've told me is true."
Sean looked at his children.
"Can I say something to them?" he asked.
Molly nodded.
Sean sat down so he was at their level.
"I know that people are saying bad things about your mother and about me," he said. "And I know that it might make you feel bad. But I need you to know the truth. The truth is that I love your mother. The truth is that I want to be your father for the rest of my life. The truth is that nothing bad that people say will change how I feel."
He looked at each of them.
"And if your mother decides that she doesn't want to marry me, then I will accept that. But I will never leave you. I will never stop being your father. Do you understand?"
The children nodded.
That night, Molly couldn't sleep.
She lay in bed and thought about her life.
She thought about how she had survived six years alone. She thought about how much she had suffered. She thought about how she had come back to the city that had rejected her.
And she thought about how, for the first time in her life, someone was offering to stay.
Even if the whole world told him to leave.
At three in the morning, Molly called Sean.
"Yes," she said. "I'll marry you. Tomorrow. I don't care about the publicity. I don't care about Diana or the newspapers. I just want to marry you."
"Are you sure?" Sean asked.
"No," Molly said. "But I'm going to do it anyway. Because you're worth the risk. Because I love you."
The wedding happened the next day.
It was small and simple and beautiful.
And when Sean kissed his new wife, the whole world seemed to stop and hold
its breath.
Because he was kissing her like she was the most precious thing he had ever held.
Like she was home.
Like he would never, ever let her go.