Five Years Wasted Now They Beg Her Back novel Chapter 180

The woman she saw as low-born, tainted, and a burden to her son was the person who had saved his life?

"That... that's impossible," Marianne stammered. "How old was she back then? How could she have saved you?"

Grace lowered her eyes and gently rolled up her sleeve. On her left elbow was a long, jagged scar.

"I got this from a rusty wire when I jumped," Grace said softly, as if telling someone else's story. "I couldn't afford a tetanus shot, so I ran a fever for three days and nights."

"But I was happy then," she said, looking up at Damien, a light shining in her eyes. "Because I knew he had survived."

A sharp pain lanced through Damien's heart. He spun around and pulled Grace into a fierce embrace, holding her so tightly it seemed he wanted to merge her into his very bones.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Grace... I made you wait for ten years. It's all my fault you suffered so much. I didn't know it was you..."

He hated himself. He hated that he hadn't come back sooner. He hated that he hadn't rescued her from the Hart family and Ethan.

"It's okay," Grace said, patting his back as if soothing a child.

Marianne watched the two of them, the shock she felt overwhelming. She might be snobbish and harsh, but she was still a mother. She knew what that kidnapping had meant to Damien. It was his deepest wound, his recurring nightmare.

And Grace was the one who had pulled him out of that abyss.

"What?!" Marianne shrieked. "You gave her the shares? Are you insane? That's the foundation of the Clarke family!"

"I'm not the one who's insane. This world is," Damien sneered.

"A brilliant and kind woman is being trampled on like this simply because she was held back by her family of origin. Since the Clarke family can't accept her, then I will leave with her."

"You should think carefully, Mother. You can either die old and alone, clinging to your so-called family reputation, or you can accept a daughter-in-law who is, in fact, more outstanding than anyone else, and have your family whole again."

With that, Damien took Grace's hand, their fingers intertwining.