The-Wrong-Bride-Ares--Raven’s-story-(Maura,-Catharina)_bibis

about us, and I’ve never once blamed you for the situation we were put in. If anything, I owe you a
great debt for it. The last couple of months have been the happiest I’ve ever been.”
She looks into my eyes, her gaze searching. “But that happiness can’t last, Raven. It won’t. My
sweet girl, do you think I didn’t notice the pain in your beautiful eyes each time you were around
Hannah and Ares?”
I look away and wrap my arms around myself protectively. Was I so transparent? My mind
involuntarily drifts back to Hannah telling me that she and Ares used to joke about my crush on him.
Did everyone know?
“I don’t want to watch you lose your spirit over the next couple of months or years, Raven. He
might be angry and shocked right now, but we both know that his protective instincts will kick in soon
enough. It won’t take long for him to realize that she truly is carrying his baby. He’d do anything for
his child, don’t you think? Can you bear watching him worry about her? Will your heart stay intact
when he places his hand on her belly to feel the baby kick? All of those moments they’ll share that
you can’t be part of are bound to hurt you.”
I draw a shaky breath and lift my face. “Then what would you have me do, Grandma?”
“My sweet girl, I don’t know what the right thing to do is, but I want you to think about your own
happiness. This isn’t what I wanted for you. For years, I watched you wither away because of your
love for Ares. I don’t want you to go through that again. You should have a love so grand that
everything else pales in comparison. You should never come second to anyone else, and you shouldn’t
have to fight over a man’s attention. But that’s the fate that awaits you with Ares. Hannah won’t let
him leave her clutches, and the new bonds between them can’t be broken.”
She looks away for a moment, her gaze filled with sorrow. “I love you just as much as I love
Sierra. I have always seen you as one of my own, Raven. Long before you married Ares, I considered
you a Windsor.”
Grandma reaches for me and cups my cheek, her thumb swiping away a tear I didn’t realize had
fallen. “My sweet girl, if you want to be set free, I’ll let you go. I’ll give you half of Windsor Media
and all my support. I never should have asked you to marry Ares in the first place. Let me right my
wrongs, Raven.”
I pull away from her, shocked. “Are you asking me to divorce Ares?”
Grandma shakes her head. “No, Raven. I would never ask that of you. I would want nothing more
than to keep you in our lives. What I’m asking you to do is to choose yourself. Choose happiness.
Prioritize yourself. No one else is going to do it for you, child. It is my hope that you’ll think things
through and choose Ares regardless, but I want you to know that you have my support if you decide
otherwise.”
She smiles at me and rises to her tiptoes to kiss my forehead before walking away, leaving me
standing here with a thousand doubts whirling through my thoughts.