Page 65 of Bride By Coronation

"We..." She blinks harder, and her eyes glisten. She looks away, pulls herself together, and releases an emotion-filled breath. She lifts her chin, squares her shoulders, and declares, "I know this is a lot, but we want you to raise the twins if something happens to us. If you don't want the responsibility, then it'll be left to our parents to decide who gets to raise them. We couldn't choose between them."

Horror fills me. My insides churn and my chest tightens. "Of course I would keep them! But why..."

Zara puts her hand on mine. "We've put you through a lot these last few weeks. We're both really sorry. Honestly. We never meant for any of this to happen. But Sean and I made choices, and those led us to this predicament. It's not fair to you. We'll deal with the consequences before us."

I gape at her, bile rising in my throat. I swallow it down.

She continues, "Our safe has letters I've written to the twins for their birthdays and special events, along with videos Sean and I made. If you want to move into our penthouse, it'll be your choice. The trust will hold the title for all properties and assets, but the penthouse will be transferred to your name. Do what you want with it. There should be plenty in the trust to raise the twins, and after they're eighteen, they'll start getting payouts on their birthdays."

"Zara..." I barely manage to get her name out, scooting closer and putting my arm around her back.

She blinks harder, takes another deep breath, then offers, "We really are sorry we put you through this ordeal. Thank you for taking the twins."

A tear escapes, falling down my cheek. "Zara, I'm not going to let you die!" I swipe my cheek.

She furrows her forehead, arguing, "It's okay, Fiona. You can't derail your entire life because of the choices we made. We shouldn't have let it get this far. Sean just thought he would figure out how to get us out of this mess."

"So you're going to let them kill you and let the twins grow up parentless?" I cry out.

Her face hardens and the color drains from her cheeks. She looks away, and her body trembles.

"Zara! Look at me!" I order.

Her chest rises and falls faster. She slowly meets my gaze.

"You're not letting them kill you. I already decided I'll marry whoever this man is," I declare.

Shock overtakes her features.

"You really thought I'd let you die?" I accuse, arching my eyebrows.

She swallows hard. "Fiona, it's not fair to you?—"

"But letting your kids grow up as orphans is fair?" I hurl.

She wipes a tear off her cheek. Her voice shakes. "It's a no-win situation."

I chortle. "Right. But we're the adults, aren't we?"

She bites on her lip, closing her eyes.

"River and Willow are babies. They need their parents," I point out.

She nods, opening her misery-filled eyes. "I know. But?—"

"There isn't a 'but' about it. You two got yourselves into a pile of shit, taking me with you. If there are only two options, as you say there are,then that really means there's only one. You know it and I know it," I declare.

Guilt explodes on Zara's face. She winces. "You're really going to go through with it?"

My gut dives. "Of course I am. There's no other choice. But you two owe me for the rest of your lives."

Tears of relief dampen her cheeks. She cackles, "You're sure?"

"About you two owing me for the rest of your life? Yep. No doubts," I affirm.

Another emotion-filled laugh flies out of her mouth. Then more tears fall. She sobs, "Fiona, I'm so sorry. Really. I am!"

I sigh and pull her into me, hugging her and admitting, "I know."

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