At her words, a flicker of joy was evident in Seth Quinn’s eyes. "So, are you willing to hear my explanation now?"

Clara Grant looked up at him, worried he would exhaust himself by talking too much. "Let’s talk about it later," she said. "There will be plenty of time for explanations after you’ve recovered."

But Seth Quinn grew as stubborn as a pouting child. "No, I have to explain now. It’s the only way I’ll be able to recover in peace."

As he spoke, he tried to reach for her hand again. Helpless, and afraid any sudden movement would reopen his wounds, Clara Grant took the initiative and reached out to hold his.

Their two hands, one firm and strong, the other soft and delicate, rested gently together—a truly beautiful sight.

Seth Quinn gazed at Clara Grant’s slender, fair hands, caressing them gently before he began to speak. "The truth is, our first meeting was orchestrated entirely by my older sister, Jenna Quinn—Cherie’s mother."

"At the time, she’d heard that the Grant Family and the Quinn Family were arranging a marriage alliance and mistakenly assumed I was the one meant to marry Chloe Grant. She didn’t like Chloe, feeling that she wasn’t the kind of woman who should become the future matriarch of the Quinn Family."

"Then she found out the Grant Family had another daughter—you. In her desperation, she came up with that crazy idea to put Cherie in a suitcase and entrust you with delivering her to me. And that’s how we met."

"For a long time, I actually had no idea. But by the time I found out, I wasn’t the least bit angry with my sister for taking matters into her own hands. In fact, I was grateful she’d come up with the idea, because by then, I’d already decided I was going to force you to marry me."

"So, that led to the second deception: the lie about Cherie having a congenital heart defect."

"I conspired with Rowan Linden and had him forge the medical documents. He didn’t actually want to go along with the scam, but he agreed because of our relationship."

"Later, I got what I wanted when you married me. You only agreed so you could get the money for Cherie’s medical bills, but at the time, I didn’t care. I didn’t care why you married me, as long as I could have you."

"But then, I realized I couldn’t stand the thought of you hating me or wanting to divorce me after finding out the truth. The very idea of you hating me, of you leaving me... I couldn’t bear it. That’s why I tried to tell you the truth several times."

"I especially wanted to tell you that time at your parents’ house, and again after you ran into my sister at the mall and came home to question me. I really did want to tell you the truth, but the first time, your mother had already given you an answer, so I had no choice but to go along with it."

"The second time, my sister was worried our relationship wasn’t stable enough and that you’d divorce me if you found out. She warned me over and over not to tell you. To avoid being exposed, she even took Cherie and flew back to the U.S.A. overnight. As for me, I was also terrified you would divorce me if you knew, so I kept my mouth shut."

"Do you remember when I asked you if you’d forgive me if I had ever lied to you about something? You said that if we had a child, you would choose to forgive me and wouldn’t divorce me. So I decided I would wait until we had a child to tell you..."

"But... you found out the truth before we could even have a child."

As he said that last part, Seth Quinn even seemed to pout a little, looking utterly resigned.

Clara Grant almost laughed out of sheer anger at his final words. ’He actually planned to wait until we had a child to tell me the truth!’

’He really did think long-term when it came to deceiving me.’