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.

searching for clues about the eighth-generation virus, he found himself remembering every detail of his parents' lives-especially

back to the puzzle

his father

up, but that was the only one

was impossible not

his parents had really left any clues about the

out a long breath and pulled himself back to the

the puzzle in front of everyone. Instead, he quietly set

other things and kept clearing

it was empty, Tarquin

the minister's instruct

Elizabeth's ashes from Elysia, and

et to Kendricks

s

by side,

respect

awe

twenty years,

lives hadn't been perfect. Maybe

had

life, together

and the prayers of the priests, the coffin was sealed, and new earth

their

set, with Elizabeth's name added and a photo of the two of

Kendrick and Elizabeth, the Bradford family's heroes, were at