Chapter 5: Edith, will you marry me?

Words : 2412 Updated : Oct 23rd, 2025

Diego Santee followed the butler into the sitting room. As he stepped through the doorway, every eye in the Lynch family turned to him at once. He spotted Tori Lynch amid the crowd; his gaze brightened, and he moved toward her with unguarded delight. "Tori, long time no see." Five years had stripped away her girlishness; now she carried herself with an elegant woman's poise. But Tori only cast him a cool glance. She didn't reply. She even slid back half a step, barely perceptible, widening the space between them. Diego frowned, a thin thread of dread tightening in his chest. Tori's reaction felt wrong. Had his sister-in-law been right? Or maybe he was overthinking it; five years apart could make anyone feel stiff and distant. "Tori… it's been five years. I'm out now," he said, drawing a steadying breath. "We're both adults now, and I want to marry you." He turned toward the matriarch, Mdm. Shadboult. "Mrs. Shadboult, please give us your blessing." A hush fell over the Lynch family hall. You could have heard a pin drop. The family stared at him, stunned that Diego truly had come to propose. Then the room erupted-everyone started talking at once. "Diego Santee, you just got out of prison, and you're already trying to take Tori home?" "Exactly. Some people must think our Lynch family is riding high. They're lining up to mooch off us." "Ugh! Shameless. How can a person be so brazen?" Barbs flew, sharp and merciless. The words made Diego's brow twitch, his jaw set tight. "Enough. Quiet," Bailey said, her expression darkened as she rapped the table. At that, the Lynch family held their tongues. Bailey studied Diego. "A guest is a guest. Since you're here at the Lynch home, don't just stand there. Have a seat." "Why are you standing around? Pour the guest some tea," she added. The butler hurried forward, filling Diego's cup to the brim. Diego took a small sip. "Mrs. Shadboult, I didn't come as a guest. I came for an answer." He set the cup down and drew out an exquisite gift box from his inner pocket. Inside lay a large sapphire necklace. The stone had a clear, ice-blue body; sunlight caught it in a soft azure glow, yet warmth pooled in his palm as he held it. He studied the necklace, old memories rippling through his eyes. It was called Love of a Lifetime, the masterpiece that made Michaelson, the famed jeweler in Merica, a legend. Hundreds of sapphires had been cut and polished, crafted so cleverly that, from any angle, it looks like a single flawless sapphire. Michaelson poured his life's work into it. It was the treasure women dreamed of owning. It once sold at auction in Merica for three hundred million dollars. Years ago, it had been stolen and vanished without a trace. The one who stole it was Diego's fourth master, Juliana. While in prison, Juliana learned that Diego had a fiancée. She sent him the necklace, telling him to pass it to Tori as a gift. Diego had brought Love of a Lifetime today for that very purpose. "Tori, five years ago, you promised you would marry no one but me." He cradled the gem in his palm and faced her, voice earnest. "I may have nothing to my name right now, but I'll make you the happiest woman in Easton and Jenby-hell, in all of Chiton." "This necklace, Love of a Lifetime, is worth three hundred million dollars. I'm giving it to you as a symbol of our love." He lifted his hands, ready to clasp the necklace around her neck. Tori recoiled, her brows knitting in disgust. She stepped back another half pace. "Diego Santee, five years have passed and you're still so childish?" "You did five years inside. Put bluntly, you're an ex-convict. I, on the other hand, have been taking over the family's businesses, and the Lynch family has been climbing higher every day." "You and I are worlds apart." "Think about it. What right do you have to propose to me? Why should I marry you?" Boom! The word crashed through Diego's skull. He nearly lost his balance. He stared at this woman, at once familiar and strange, unable to believe such words came out of Tori's mouth. Cold sluiced through him, biting deep. Seeing him speechless, Tori smiled with smug satisfaction. "Cat got your tongue? Diego, do yourself a favor and wake up." "The Santee family has fallen. Your three brothers died young, and Junos Group is on its last legs. The Lynch family is soaring. We're one of the top eight families in Easton and have a solid foothold in Jenby." "Without the Santee family behind you, you're just an ex-convict. I could pull a random man off the street and he'd still be better than you. No mirrors in prison? You could've at least looked in a puddle." "From the moment you went in, you and I stopped living in the same world." Every sentence hit its mark. Laughter broke from the Lynch crowd. "Some people don't know their place and end up embarrassing themselves." "And what Love of a Lifetime? I bet he bought a cheap knockoff from a street stall. He has the nerve to parade it here like we can't tell." "Who would marry an ex-convict?" Facing Tori's relentless sneer and the Lynch family's snide chorus, Diego clenched his fists so tight his knuckles blanched. His face turned to stone. She used to call him "Diego," with that "big brother" tag. Now, every other sentence was "ex-convict." How quickly the world showed its true face. Back then, he had taken the blame for her own brother, Marcelo Lynch, and gone to prison in his place. He had shouldered five years behind bars. The Lynch family felt no gratitude; instead, they wielded it as a reason to look down on him. Veins stood out on Diego's forehead; a tremor ran through him. He hadn't felt a surge like this in five years. "For five years, you sent packages to the prison and wrote me letters, telling me to keep on and make myself better. Was all of that a lie?" He pulled out a wooden hairpin and held it up. "In your letters, you said, 'Though I'm not beside you, this hairpin will keep you company. Day after day, until you return.'" "Rubbish," Tori snapped, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "The moment you went to prison, I wanted to cut ties with you. Why would I send anything?" She snatched the hairpin from him, gave it a quick look, and curled her lip. "A cheap wooden pin. What young person still uses something this outdated?" She tossed it back, a hard little huff in her throat. Suddenly, a voice rose from the crowd. "I remember Ms. Edith liked wooden hairpins. Could it be hers?" At the name Edith Lynch, Tori's face faltered. "Don't be ridiculous," she scoffed. "I don't want him, and Edith may be disfigured, but she hasn't lost her mind. How would she ever look twice at this useless waste?" Her words landed, and a shadow in the corner shivered. Diego glanced toward the slender figure and wondered why she wore a veil. Back then, Edith Lynch had been hailed as Easton's most beautiful woman-famously aloof and breathtakingly beautiful, pursued by countless men. In the cavernous Lynch hall, the jeers were endless. Only Edith had spoken for him, cutting through the noise. After all, the marriage contract bound a son of the Santee family to a daughter of the Lynch family for a lifelong union. It never specified that it had to be Tori. Diego let out a long breath; his gaze steadied. He had believed, all these years in prison, that Tori had sent the packages and letters to keep him going. Now the truth was out. There was nothing left to cling to. He made up his mind and strode to Edith. He offered her Love of a Lifetime, his eyes clear and sincere. "Edith, will you marry me?"

Chapter 5: Edith, will you marry me?

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