The Billionaire Took My Heart for His First Love

It was that day that the three of us made a promise.

We would use the one-month divorce cooling-off period as a trial. We would work on our family, give each other one more chance.

Over the past month, Thaddeus had done exactly what he said he would. He put Marilyn and me first in everything, doing his best to be the perfect husband and father.

But the conversation I'd just overheard between Thaddeus and his secretary told me it was all a lie.

I stared at Marilyn, fast asleep in her little bed, and tears rolled down my cheeks in heavy, unrelenting drops.

I was still sitting there in a daze when Thaddeus walked into the room and found me crumpled on the floor.

"What's wrong, Albie? The floor's cold. Why are you sitting down here?"

"Have you been crying? Are you feeling sick?"

I lifted my eyes to the man standing in front of me. The concern in his gaze looked genuine, identical to every single day of the past month.

I lowered my eyes, afraid he'd see through me.

"It's nothing. I was just thinking about Marilyn. She's so little. What's going to happen to her?"

Thaddeus let out a breath of relief and carefully helped me up from the floor.

"It's going to be okay, Albie. Medical technology is advancing so fast these days. There'll be a way. I'll find a matching kidney and heart for you and Marilyn. You two are my everything."

"And even if I can't find them, it's fine. I'll protect you both for the rest of my life. I'll be your shelter. I'll be the one you lean on."

Listening to him, a bitter laugh echoed silently inside me.

If I hadn't just overheard that conversation with his secretary, I would have believed every single word.

But now, all that was left in my heart was hatred. A hatred so vast it could swallow the sky.

"Let's go to sleep, Thaddeus. I'm tired. Don't wake Marilyn."

He didn't suspect a thing.

"Okay. Let's sleep."

A long while later, his voice drifted through the darkness, murmuring in his sleep.

"Monica... Monica..."

I swallowed the sourness burning in my throat, slipped out of bed, and made my way downstairs to the study.

Earlier, while Thaddeus was on the phone with his secretary, his gaze had kept drifting tenderly toward a wooden box on the desk.

I'd rarely set foot in his study before. That box, I had never once opened.

But instinct told me it held the answers I was looking for.

The moment I lifted the lid, the tears I'd held back all night finally broke free.

Inside was a thick stack of letters. The handwriting evolved from the clumsy scrawl of a child to the neat strokes of a student to the bold, confident sweep of a grown man.

Every word, every line was proof that Thaddeus had loved Monica Mason.

"A girl came to the house today. Mom said she's only seven. She's so pretty, like a little princess."

"Monica started middle school. She seems taller again. She follows me around all day calling me 'big brother,' but I don't want to be her brother."

"Monica turned eighteen. I can finally tell her how I feel. But she only seems to see me as a brother."

"Monica got married today. She looked so beautiful in her wedding dress. Just as beautiful as the day she was seven."

"Monica got divorced. But I have my own family now. Albie's a good person. I don't know what to do."

...

I had always known there was someone else in Thaddeus's heart.

But seeing these words laid out in front of me, I finally understood. His love for Monica was far deeper and far longer than anything I had ever imagined.

I swiped the tears from my face and kept searching through the study.

Now was not the time for grief. There was something more important I needed to find.

At last, in the bottom drawer of the desk, I found a document envelope.

Inside were organ donation consent forms for Marilyn and me.