Page 112 of Lilly

She's quiet and then asks, "Does the guy who's marrying her get a choice? Does he get to pick the girl?"

"No. He marries who they tell him to marry."

She drops her head and softly says, "That's why you married Mom. You never loved her. You never even liked her. Now it makes sense why you married her."

I didn't want to tell her that but she figured it out on her own and I don't want to lie to her.

"It was an arranged marriage," I say. "But I tried to make it work. I did everything I could to try to make your mother happy but she never was."

Her eyes lift to mine. "Why did you have me? If you didn't love each other, then why did you have me?"

This is something I have to lie about. I can't tell her that Katherine tricked me into it. If I did, she'd think I didn't want her, which is not at all true.

"We wanted a child," I say. "I always wanted more than one. I was overjoyed when we had you."

She finally smiles. "You were?"

"Of course I was. I had a beautiful baby girl." I chuckle. "Garret wasn't thrilled with the idea of having a sister, but as soon as he met you, he loved you. He was so protective of you. He still is."

She stops to think, her mind working up more questions, wanting more answers.

"What about your first wife?"

"That was also arranged. Rachel is the only one I chose. The only woman I've ever loved."

"But she's not part of it. I mean, her dad wasn't, so she couldn't marry you?"

"That's correct. But I did it anyway and was punished for it. It's a long story and I'd rather not get into all the details."

"Rachel's the same way. She can't talk about it."

It's true. Even with me, Rachel still finds it difficult to talk about that time in our lives. She's told me very little about the years she spent in Italy because she'd rather not remember it. To her, it was one long nightmare in which she spent every day trying to get back to us, her heart aching to see Garret and me again.

"Do you have other questions?" I ask Lilly. "Or should we take a break for now? You can always ask me more later."

"Later would be good."

We both stand up and I bring her into my arms. "I know this is difficult for you and you need time to think about it, but I hope what you found out today doesn't change how you see me."

"It doesn't change anything. You're still my dad. I still love you."

Her words warm my chest and I hug her tighter. "I love you too." I let her go. "Should we go out in the living room?"

"I think I'm going to stay here a little longer."

She needs time alone to think about all that she's heard today, so I leave her room and go find Rachel. She's in the living room with Garret.

"How's she doing?" Garret asks.

"Better than I thought she would. At least she doesn't hate me."

"Pearce." Rachel comes up to me. "She could never hate you. She loves you."

"I have to get going," Garret says, getting up from the couch. "Unless you guys need me to stay."

"Go ahead and get home," I tell him. "And thank you for talking to her. You were right. It was better that you talked to her first."

He gives me a hug. "Call me later. Let me know how she's doing." He hugs Rachel. "Bye, Mom."

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