Marrying His Uncle

For eight years, I stayed by John Harlem's side, even without a title.

I was there when he recovered and rose from his wheelchair, and I was there when he clawed his way out of depression.

I thought that one day, if I endured long enough, he would see my sincerity and affection for him. And we might end up together.

But when his first love returned to the country, all my hopes turned into delusions.

He told me to put away feelings I should never have had and remain by his side as nothing more than his "sister".

For her, he deceived me, humiliated me, and pushed me away.

What he never knew was that in helping him heal, I had absorbed far too much of his darkness. The very day he stopped taking his medication, I was diagnosed with severe depression.

In order to save myself, I chose to let him go… and married his uncle instead.

But at my wedding, he set aside his pride and dignity, dropped to his knees before everyone, and begged me for nothing more than a single glance.

"Uncle Matt, yes, I will marry you."

I lay on the hospital bed, phone pressed to my ear, my other hand limp at my side as my vacant eyes lingered on the bloodstained bandages around my wrist.

How many times had I tried to end my life? I could no longer remember. All I knew was that whenever the waves of despair came crashing down, I felt no desire to keep on living.

On the other end of the line, Matt Harlem corrected me, "Audrey, I am John's uncle, not yours. You should call me 'Matt.' Or, 'honey'."

At the sound of John Harlem's name, something inside me snapped like a rubber band, a sudden ache I was powerless to defend against.

John was the guy I had loved for years.

From the moment I could remember, we had always been together. Back then, I was still the cherished heiress of the Gray family, and he was the boy next door. We spent every day in each other's company, like childhood sweethearts without a care in the world.

Even later, when the true heiress Samantha Gray returned and I was cast out, John didn't abandon me. He took me in, sheltered me, and from then on, he became the most important person in my life.

But now, I had chosen to let him go.

Obediently, I whispered, "Matt."

Only then did Matt let out a satisfied laugh. "Good girl. I'll see you in a week."

"Yes," I murmured. "See you then."

The moment the words left my lips, a tall, elegant figure stepped into the room. I saw who it was and instantly hung up the call.

John stood at the door, dressed in a perfectly tailored suit that made him look every inch the dignified heir. The man with the proud, straight back bore no trace of the despair and weakness he once