Chapter 2201
Her words twisted Jason’s thoughts into a knot of relief, guilt, and longing he couldn’t untangle.
“Chelsea, listen.” He drew a shaky breath. “Go back to the Rainsworth family. Give me one year. In twelve months, I’ll build something that convinces your parents I’m worthy. Then we can be together openly—no more hiding, no more struggling.” He wanted to spare her the grinding poverty of his still-fragile dreams.
Chelsea shook her head. “That won’t work.”
She stepped closer, standing toe-to-toe with him, her eyes bright with conviction.
“Why do you call this suffering? I want to be here—right here—with you. Leaving now is the last thing I want. Do you understand?”
She curled her fingers around his. “If I go back, my parents will drag me into blind dates and rush me into a marriage. After that, what chance would we have left?”
“And besides,” she added gently, “starting from nothing means you’ll never match my family’s status in a single year. They still won’t approve, Jason.”
Her reasoning was flawless, and he knew it.
Silence settled around them again. Jason searched for words, but each one dissolved before it reached his lips.
Chelsea wrapped her arms around him once more, her cheek resting in the warm hollow of his shoulder, as if it were the last safe place in the world. “I know you’re trying to protect me from suffering,” she murmured, steady and soft. “But I truly don’t care about that. What we have right now is already enough—already good. Isn’t it?”
After a brief hesitation, Jason lifted his hands and folded them around her slender frame. The motion was slow, deliberate, like accepting a fragile gift he wasn’t sure he deserved.
“Chelsea, have you really thought this through? One day we’ll marry, start a family. Once a child comes, the bills, the sleepless nights, the responsibilities—they’ll all multiply. Money and energy won’t be optional.”
He had grown up an orphan. He understood, deep in his bones, how irreplaceable parents were. Because of that, he’d sworn never to bring a child into the world until he had both the savings and the strength to give it everything he’d never had.
“I know,” she said, her voice catching but firm. “I’ll fight beside you. If we don’t build something solid, then we simply won’t get married.”
After words that raw, Jason could no longer push her away. “All right,” he murmured.
“Stop talking about breaking up.” She pressed a finger to his chest. “If you keep throwing it out so lightly, you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
His Adam’s apple bobbed, the only sign of the storm inside him. “I hear you. I won’t say it again.”
Only then did Chelsea’s shoulders relax. They stayed wrapped in each other for a long, unmeasured moment, neither willing to let go first.
Miles away, Chelsea’s parents lay awake, worry turning each ticking second into grit. Near midnight, Elena could bear it no longer and dialed her daughter’s number.
Chelsea lay alone on her king-size bed when she answered. “Mom, what’s wrong?”
“Chelsea, come home,” Elena pleaded. “Admit you were wrong, divorce Jason, and your father and I will forgive everything.”
“I’m sorry, Mom, but I won’t divorce him,” Chelsea replied quickly. “If you truly love me, let me live my own life.”
“Then listen to me,” Elena continued, her patience fraying. “Enjoy yourself for now, but do not—under any circumstances—get pregnant. Protect yourself. A child would make regret arrive far too late.”
Chelsea understood exactly what her mother feared, so she answered with teasing defiance. “How could I do that? I’m already his wife. Of course I’ll give him a child.”
“You silly girl,” Kingston finally cut in from the extension. “Once there’s a baby, regret will be too late.”
“Dad, Mom, I won’t regret it,” Chelsea said again, steadier than before.
Faced with their daughter’s unshakable resolve, her parents had nothing left to say.
Chelsea ended the call and lowered the phone.
She stared at the dark screen for a long moment, then whispered, “Dad, Mom… I’m sorry.”