Hitched & Hitched Again: A Comedy of Marital Mayhem

Chapter 1430

That night, the realization finally hit him.

Survival of the fittest, he thought. If you're not strong enough, you have to learn when to back down.

At his age, keeping his head down was just part of staying alive.

So that night, clutching the puzzle box in his small hands, he knelt in front of Gideon for the first time and called him, "Grandpa."

He begged Gideon to let him bury the puzzle with his father.

Gideon, dressed in a sharp suit and sipping his Earl Grey in the armchair, looked down at him for a long, icy second before finally snapping,

"Fine. You can put it in. But from now on, you do as I say.

If the press ever interviews you, you do not show any resentment toward me or the Bradford family.

And tomorrow at your father's funeral, you will not mention your mother-not just tomorrow, but ever. No matter where you are, you keep her name out of your mouth. Wipe her from your memory.

Remember this: you're a Bradford now. You have nothing to do with that woman Elizabeth."

As a child, he was powerless against Gideon's authority.

He shook with hatred, but in the end, he had no choice but to obey.

Only then did Gideon finally allow the puzzle to be placed into the coffin, to rest with his father.

he found himself

kept coming back to the puzzle

before his father died,

had plenty of toys growing up, but that

not to be

his parents had really left any clues about the virus, it had to be in that

and pulled himself back

front of everyone. Instead, he quietly set

and kept clearing

was empty,

the minister's instruct

ashes from Elysia, and placed

et to Kendricks

s

two urns sat side by side, eyes all

respect for

was awe for

over twenty years, finally together

hadn't been

love had found its

in life, together in death-never

and the prayers of the priests, the coffin was

their

name added

and Elizabeth, the Bradford