“Ethan, you’ve hardly eaten anything.”

My mother placed down her cutlery and promptly stared at me. I could feel her gaze practically burning a hole in my head. Sighing, I gave her a blank, dismissive look. Peach was the only concern in my head.

“I have been thinking about this. Regardless of what you’ve done. How much you lied and hurt your family, it’s obvious that you care for the girl.”

“So?”

“Then do something about it. I won’t think any less of you.”

“Maybe not but you still won’t transfer the company to me though will you. Besides, I cared for a girl once before, remember how well that turned out?” I replied.

The pain of that shattered relationship still haunted me. My high school sweetheart had ripped my heart in two when my proposal for marriage had been thrown back in my face. I thought we were on the same page, wanted the same things. When I didn’t really know her at all. We had been inseparable for years, our families were to be great allies. But it had all been crushed when she decided she wanted more. Code word for anything but me.

“Ethan, you were young. She was, I’m sorry to say, young as well as stupid. She wasn’t right for you. You’re a different man now.”

“But the same result, the girl’s gone. Peach wants nothing to do with me. And you can’t blame her after what that asshole did. What this family put her through. What I put her through.”

“Gone, but not forgotten. You have to trust yourself a little more, the way you’ve spoken about her, makes me think you had something quite special. You clearly want her back, so why not do something about it? You can’t be afraid to put your heart on the line.”

“Damn that Nial!” I said through gritted teeth, trying to blot out my mother’s words.

“Indeed, Nial apparently only wants to destroy things around him. That’s abundantly clear now. I won’t be listening to him anymore. You on the other hand you’ve always wanted to build, to make things better. So do what you’re good at? Your inheritance has been delayed as you know, but there’s no reason that it won’t still go ahead. Nial just wanted to make a show. You just have to decide what you want now.”

“I haven’t been thinking about that, the inheritance wouldn’t matter. It just pisses me off that the condition was put in there in the first place. But even with it, I still wouldn’t have her.”

My mother reached across the table and took my hand. “Do you love her, yes or no?”

I looked up with glossy eyes. “Yes.”

“Then do whatever you need to do, if you want to fight for her, then fight!”

I could already feel my resolve building. My mother had pretty much given me her blessing. So why was I still sitting here? Everything I could ever want awaited me if only I would reach out and reclaim my wife!

“There should be joy in this home again, like there used to be. It should be filled to the brim with happiness and love, that’s what I want. What do you want, Ethan?” my mother asked. She reached over to the purple flowers in the middle of the table to brush them tenderly. “You know, I’ve always wanted a daughter…”

I looked at the flowers that Peach had picked for her and began to put a plan in motion. The fight was only just beginning. Nial may have won the battle, but I was going to win the war as well as Peach’s heart.