The Hour He Never Gave Chapter 16
Sean built a little treehouse in the woods beside my house.
Ellie screamed and bolted inside. The second she shoved the door open, she gasped. Flowers filled every corner.
Sean stepped up beside me. “Harry told me your ex once wanted to build Ellie a treehouse to win you back. Kids love these things. You turned his down, so I built one instead. The treehouse is for Ellie. The flowers are for you. Lucia, will you be with me? I’ll spend the rest of my life making you and Ellie happy.”
Tears spilled out before I could stop them. Happy tears.
Ellie bounced around the treehouse, too excited to stay still. I wiped my eyes and nodded.
Half a year later, we had a small wedding at a chapel.
Ellie walked behind me as the flower girl, tossing petals along my train.
***
A year after marrying Sean, it was time for Ellie’s follow-up exam.
Sean handled his visa early and flew back to Floravia with us.
The second we arrived at Caldwell Medical Institute, my old Floravian number rang.
A lawyer told me Emery Corp had transferred twenty percent of its shares to Ellie.
Hearing the name Emery Corp again felt like hearing about someone else’s life.
After I hung up, news alerts flooded my screen.
I hadn’t kept up with anything in Floravia for over a year.
While Ellie was in her exam, I scrolled through them.
The recording of Daphne’s phone call-the one I sold to the media last year-had kept her name trending for a long time.
Every tag tied to her name said the same thing: homewrecker, vicious, shameless.
Her address got leaked online.
Crowds camped outside her house every day, spray-painting the walls and tossing trash everywhere.
The scandal sent Emery Corp’s stock crashing.
The board voted to demote Pierce, stripping him of most of his power.
After Daphne put up with it for over half a year-getting nothing but humiliation in return-she stormed into the Emery estate with Jared.
She pointed at Pierce’s grandmother. “Ellie’s dead. This is your family’s only heir. Either make Pierce marry me or give me money. Otherwise, I’ll expose everything.”
Pierce’s grandmother immediately had Jared take a paternity test.
The results showed Jared wasn’t Pierce’s son.
Daphne went white. “That’s impossible! You’re the only man I’ve ever been with!”
Pierce stayed silent and let his grandmother send Daphne to prison for extortion.
Jared was sent to an orphanage.
To this day, no one’s adopted him.
Karma always finds its way back.
I didn’t give the shares back. They belonged to my daughter.
After Ellie’s checkup, I took Sean and Ellie traveling around Floravia for a while.
Once our vacation ended, the three of us flew back to Northern Europe.
Over the next two years, Ellie’s talent for painting started turning heads at school.
I hired a private art teacher for her.
I carefully kept every painting she made.
Sean even created a social media account for her and uploaded scans of her artwork.
She blew up fast and gained a huge following online.
By thirteen, Ellie already had a name for herself.
I organized an art exhibition for her in Floravia.
To my surprise, way more people showed up than I expected.
After that, Ellie’s confidence shot through the roof.
Ideas kept pouring out of her nonstop.
Her paintings sold online for insane prices.
She kept asking me to sell her older work too.
I refused, but I didn’t stop her from selling the newer pieces.
