Page 60 of The Rancher's Second-Choice Wife

Epilogue

“I JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND,” Heather said with genuine sorrow. “I mean, Charlotte. You don’t understand it either, do you?”

Charlotte had a hard time suppressing her smile as she studied Poppy, who stood in the circle of her husband’s arms across the room.

“She’s normally the cutest thing, but every time she’s with my brother, she starts smiling the way she is now...”

Poppy’s smile did look rather creepy, Charlotte thought ruefully. But who cared? Valerian was currently gazing at his wife like she was the most beautiful girl in the world. That was all that mattered.

Heather excused herself to see other guests, and Charlotte felt very much like a fairy godmother when her gaze returned to Valerian and his wife, whose birthday they were all celebrating.

To say that the past year had been challenging for the Rossfields would be an understatement. But the couple had thankfully weathered the storm, and more than that, the restoration of Risto’s monarchy also allowed Valerian to reclaim his billionaire status in a snap.

Another influx of guests streamed in, and Charlotte’s mood also changed in a snap. It was none other than Valerian’s close friend Rowland, and he was the last person she wanted to see right now. She had taken him as a client precisely because of his friendship with Poppy’s husband. But she had realized later on these two men couldn’t be any more different.

Valerian had always done his best to do right by Poppy.

Rowland, though...

****

VALERIAN HAD THE BEST surprise in store for his wife after her birthday party. But when he asked her to take a guess—

“You want me to go bungee-jumping with you?” Poppy asked excitedly.

“Hell no. I mean, fuck no. I mean no.” He mentally apologized to God. Cleaning up his vocabulary had proven to be more difficult than he expected it to be, but gradual progress was the key.

“Oh, then—”

“I’m going to stop you right there and tell you that it has nothing to do with extreme sports.”

His wife’s face fell, and Valerian wondered if this was God’s way of showing His sense of humor.

After all these years of risking his neck and not really caring about how it made Heather or his loved ones fear for his life, it was Valerian’s turn to have a dose of his own medicine. Poppy, as it turned out, had always wanted to give those same activities a try. It was part of her bucket list, and as much as he loved and wanted to give her the whole world—

Valerian gave his wife an implacable look when he saw her open her mouth. “No.”

“But—”

“Look out your window, love.”

Poppy knew Valerian was only trying to distract her, but she dutifully looked out her window all the same.

OH MY GOODNESS.

Valerian helped his wife out of the car. He didn’t speak a word until his newly purchased jet was right in front of them. “I made a promise over a year ago...” He pulled his wife into his arms. “Thank you for waiting all this time.”

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