Chapter 433 A Child Should Never Have to Choose

Chapter 433: Chapter 433 A Child Should Never Have to Choose

Ryan didn’t answer.

He turned his head toward the window.

Snow had begun falling again, soft flakes drifting beneath the streetlights.

After a long silence, he finally said, “I understand.”

Then he ended the call.

Ryan stood there for a moment before heading upstairs.

At the end of the hallway was his study. The door was secured with a keypad lock, and he entered the code without hesitation.

Inside, the room was quiet and dim.

Books filled nearly every shelf, a mixture of American and foreign editions. Some were rare first editions and out-of-print volumes he’d collected over the years. Most of them had already been read.

Ryan walked to his desk and sat down.

He opened the drawer beside him.

Inside were photographs.

Dozens of them.

Many had been damaged by fire. The edges were blackened, the paper warped, and soot had stained the surviving portions of the images. Most had been torn or burned beyond recognition.

They had clearly once been photographs of two people.

Now, almost every one was incomplete.

Ryan picked up the photograph lying on top.

Half of it was missing.

The remaining portion showed Rose in a wedding dress, smiling with a sweetness that seemed almost impossibly distant now.

Ryan stared at it for a long time.

Then, very gently, he ran his fingertips over the charred edge.

His expression remained unreadable.

After several seconds, he placed the photograph back inside the drawer.

He closed it.

*****

Rose hadn’t had a moment to herself in the past two days.

Her phone seemed to ring constantly.

Ever since the disastrous wedding with Trevor had exposed her connection to the Taylor family, the news had spread quickly.

Combined with everything she’d already accomplished, her newly revealed identity had turned her into the center of attention.

Congratulations came from every direction.

Old acquaintances.

Business contacts.

People she’d barely spoken to before.

Most of them weren’t calling out of genuine concern. They simply wanted to establish a connection with the newly recognized Taylor granddaughter.

Rose had spent two straight days smiling, answering calls, exchanging polite words, and trying not to lose her mind.

She was exhausted.

Grace, meanwhile, had already gone to see Ariel.

Ariel had learned that she was the Taylor family’s great-granddaughter, but surprisingly, she’d taken the news much better than Grace had expected.

Perhaps it was because Ariel had grown up understanding that her biological father was someone else.

She had never been particularly attached to the idea that she belonged exclusively to one family.

And now that everything was finally out in the open, Rose no longer needed to deliberately keep Ariel at arm’s length from the Taylors.

Grace was practically glowing with happiness.

She immediately suggested throwing a small family celebration for Rose and Ariel.

Rose understood exactly what the older woman was thinking.

With the Robinsons now openly estranged and the Knights watching their every move, the gathering wasn’t simply about celebrating.

It was a public statement.

The Taylors were making it clear to everyone that Rose was their family—and that Ariel was their great-granddaughter.

They were welcoming them home.

Rose understood Grace’s intentions.

And she wasn’t about to ruin the woman’s happiness.

So, she let her have her celebration.

As for Ryan...

They hadn’t seen each other since that day.

Over the past two days, James had also turned down most of his usual social commitments and work obligations.

He had thrown himself completely into spending time with Ariel.

It was almost comical.

He was practically glued to the little girl whenever she was around.

Ariel already knew him.

Back in Washington, D.C., the two of them had even spent some time together on their own, so she wasn’t uncomfortable around him.

That afternoon, James took her outside to play near the fish pond in the backyard.

Snow had covered the grass, the stone paths, and the bare branches of the trees.

Naturally, the two of them ended up building a tiny snowman.

By the time they came back inside, Ariel’s cheeks were pink from the cold.

“Are you freezing, sweetheart?”

James immediately crouched down and took off her scarf.

He wrapped it around his arm before taking both of her little hands between his palms.

Then he blew warm air over her fingers.

Ariel shook her head.

She wriggled free and hurried toward Rose.

“Mommy.”

James immediately went to the kitchen.

He returned with a bottle of warm milk he’d prepared earlier and handed it to Ariel.

Rose touched Ariel’s cold cheek.

“You little troublemaker. Did you have fun?”

Ariel nodded enthusiastically.

“Are you cold?”

Before she could answer, she tilted her head toward James.

Then she held out the bottle.

“Uncle, you should warm your hands too.”

James’s heart practically melted.

Without a second thought, he scooped Ariel out of Rose’s arms.

“Well, if I hold you like this, I’ll be warm enough.”

Rose didn’t stop him.

She knew James adored Ariel.

He treated the little girl as though she were something precious enough to be kept under lock and key.

Rose couldn’t help thinking that, in some ways, his affection for Ariel came from the love he already had for her.

“Where’s Grandma?” Rose asked.

James was still somewhat nervous around Rose.

She usually treated him with a detached politeness, so even a few words from her could make him absurdly happy.

“She’s putting together the guest list,” he said. “Grandma is having the time of her life. She’s been talking about this celebration nonstop.”

Rose nodded.

She had no intention of involving herself.

Let Grace enjoy herself.

Ariel, who had been drinking her milk, suddenly looked up.

Her big eyes were filled with curiosity.

“Will my dad be invited?”

The question immediately wiped the smile from James’s face.

He looked down at her.

“Why would we invite him?”

The words came out more sharply than he intended.

The events of the past few days had caused an uproar, and Ariel had naturally learned that her biological father was still alive.

She also knew something else.

Her father was Uncle Knight—the man who had saved her life.

Ariel quietly held her bottle.

She didn’t argue.

Instead, she looked at Rose.

Rose understood immediately.

Ariel was still a child.

She couldn’t possibly understand the complicated history between the adults.

Her world had once been simple.

There was Mommy.

There was the family she’d grown up with.

And now, suddenly, there was another person she was supposed to call Dad.

Of course she was curious.

Rose had already told Ryan that she wouldn’t interfere with Ariel’s relationship with him.

So, she wouldn’t start now.

“If you want to see your dad,” Rose said gently, “you can invite him.”

James’s expression tightened.

Rose continued, “If you want to spend time with him, I’ll listen to what you want. Mommy won’t stop you.”

James swallowed whatever objection he’d been about to make.

He knew better than to discuss adult resentment in front of a child.

Ariel shouldn’t have to carry the emotional scars of her parents’ marriage.

Those were the adults’ problems.

Not hers.

Ariel lowered the bottle.

Then she turned toward Rose, opened her arms, and hugged her tightly around the neck.

“If Mommy doesn’t like Daddy, then I don’t like Daddy either.”

Rose froze.

The little girl said it so earnestly that Rose’s heart ached.

Ariel didn’t understand the details.

She only knew that Mommy was the person she loved most in the world.

And if Daddy made Mommy unhappy, then Ariel would take Mommy’s side.

Rose suddenly realized something that made her chest tighten.

Without anyone asking her to, Ariel was already trying to carry part of her mother’s pain.

A child should have been carefree.

Instead, at such a young age, she was already trying to choose between two people she loved.

Rose gathered herself and smiled.

“Of course not, sweetheart.”

She gently stroked Ariel’s hair.

“Mommy wants you to understand something. Mommy and Daddy aren’t together anymore because we realized we weren’t right for each other.”

Ariel listened carefully.

“We got divorced,” Rose continued. “That means Mommy and Daddy won’t live together anymore, but it doesn’t mean either of us loves you any less.”

She kissed Ariel’s forehead.

“You’re still our daughter. That will never change.”

Rose’s voice was soft and patient.

“You don’t have to choose between us. You don’t have to stop loving Daddy because Mommy and Daddy aren’t together. And you don’t have to stop loving Mommy because Daddy is your dad.”

Ariel blinked.

“Even if you don’t live together?”

“Even then.”

Rose smiled.

“You still have two people who love you very much. Mommy and Daddy just have a different relationship now.”

She didn’t want Ariel growing up believing that divorce meant one parent had abandoned her.

More than anything, Rose wanted her daughter to grow up healthy and emotionally secure.

She would explain the separation honestly, in a way Ariel could understand.

She would never make the child responsible for the pain between her parents.

Ariel thought about it for a moment.

Then she asked quietly, “So Mommy isn’t mad at Daddy anymore?”

Rose smiled.

“No. I’m not.”

It was the truth.

She wasn’t angry anymore.

At least, not in the way she once had been.

Ariel visibly relaxed.

After all, Rose had already made her position clear to Ryan.

They were going their separate ways.

But because they had a daughter together, some connection between them would always remain.

They were no longer husband and wife.

They weren’t lovers.

They were simply Ariel’s parents.

Nothing more.

James watched them silently.

A heaviness settled in his chest.

He understood what Rose was doing.

As a mother, she was doing the best thing possible for her daughter.

She was giving Ariel a healthy way to understand divorce without forcing her to carry the adults’ resentment.

Rose had done everything she could.

But James still couldn’t understand Ryan.

Why wasn’t he fighting for Rose?

Why wasn’t he trying desperately to win her back?

Why hadn’t he rushed to remarry her?

Even when his grandmother had confronted him about it, Ryan’s answer had apparently been the same: “I don’t want to get married again.”

That answer had infuriated James.

He didn’t want Ryan pestering Rose, either.

But he also couldn’t stand the thought of Ryan acting as though Rose meant nothing to him.

What James wanted was simple.

He wanted Ryan to regret everything.

He wanted him to suffer.

He wanted Ryan to realize exactly what he’d lost.

Only then would James feel satisfied.

Rose, however, hadn’t noticed the complicated expression on his face.

Her phone suddenly rang.

She glanced at the screen.

It was a landline number.

Rose frowned slightly before answering.