Half the Blessing, Half the Heart
My husband, Aston Powell, is late to show up at the sixth birthday celebration of our daughter, Hailey Powell. When he arrives, he clasps a necklace with a red emerald pendant hanging from it around her neck.
"Wow, Aston! Isn't that from the pair of red emerald pendants you bought at City Auction today? They're worth seven figures, aren't they?"
Aston's friends all laugh and tease him.
Hailey holds up the pendant with a bright smile on her face. "Thanks, Daddy!"
"Where's the other one? Are you planning to give it to Belinda?" his friend asks teasingly.
As the others start cheering him on, he takes out a diamond necklace instead.
Aston says, "Dear, I've got to be fair. Tamara is pregnant with my child. I promised I'd give the child she's carrying in her belly the other pendant."
Tamara Davies is his widowed sister-in-law.
My whole body jolts involuntarily, and I subconsciously grip that necklace tightly. "Honey, please don't joke about this."
Aston smiles and speaks in an unexpectedly calm voice. "Don't worry, Belinda. My heart belongs to you and only you. You have to be sensible. My brother passed away so young. Tamara begged me to give her a child with our surname. I couldn't reject her."
He puts the necklace around my neck and lightly clasps it, placing a soft kiss on my neck while he is at it.
"Be good, okay? That was just an accident. Once the child is born, we'll have her sent back to Powell Manor," Aston says.
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