Heather's POV I opened the front
door to see a familiar
auburn-haired, gray-
eyed woman. Athena Solace,
a.k.a William's
mother. What was she doing here? Is
everything okay? She
looked like she wanted
to cry. I gave her a warm
smile and opened my
mouth to greet her, but
she launched herself
into my arms and
began sobbing into my shoulder. I patted her
back awkwardly, since
I didn't really know
what else to do. "I–I'm so s–sorry."
Athena sniffled
between sobs. Before I could even
question her, I heard
William's voice.
"Mom?" She immediately
pulled back and glared
at William, her green
eyes flashing with
anger. "YOU!" She
yelled, pointing a finger in his face. He furrowed his
eyebrows. "Mom–" His head whipped to
the side as she
slapped him right
across his face. He
slowly turned his head
back and looked at her with shock and hurt in
his eyes. She was still fuming.
"How dare you! I am
ashamed to find out
what my children have
been doing! YOU
HURT AN INNOCENT WOMAN! ARE YOU
EVEN A MAN? HOW
DARE YOU!" I stared at her,
stunned. I put a hand
on her shoulder to
stop her, but she
didn't. "YOU DECIDED TO
BLAME HER FOR
SOMETHING YOUR
GRANDFATHERS
PLANNED? ARE YOU
KIDDING ME? HOW ARE YOU RUNNING
YOUR FATHER'S
COMPANY? DO YOU
HAVE ANY SENSE IN
YOU? IS THIS HOW I
RAISED YOU?" She yelled at him, tears
falling from her eyes . William just stared at
her, his green eyes
darkening with every
word she was saying.
Without saying a
word, he turned on his heel and walked away.
I flinched as I heard
the patio doors open
and slam shut. Athena turned to me,
guilt clear in her eyes.
"I am so sorry,
Heather. My family
has caused you so
much pain. You must think I'm a terrible
mother. I swear, I'll do
anything to help you
get out of this
marriage with my son,
even if it means I have to break the stupid
contract your
grandfathers made." I looked at her with
sad eyes and shook
my head. "Mrs.
Solace, I don't want to
leave William. I love
him." Her eyes widened.
"You love him?" I nodded. She began
to speak again, but
William's father
walked into the house.
Henry Solace was
pretty much the older version of William,
with grayish-blackish
hair and those forest-
green eyes. He took
one look at me and
turned to Athena. "What did you do?" Athena shook her
head and stared at her
feet. "I slapped
William and yelled at
him for hurting
Heather." Henry frowned.
"Athena, I told you not
to do anything. I said
we would talk this out
in a peaceful manner." She sighed. "I know,
but my anger and hurt
got the best of me." Henry looked at her in
disappointment and
then turned to look at
me. "I'm sorry
Heather. This is not
happy meeting." I gave him a small
smile. "It's okay. I'm
going to go check on
William, so excuse
me." They nodded and I
walked towards the
patio area quickly. I
stepped out into the
cold, night air and
looked around for William. He was
leaning on the railing
and staring at the mini-
pond in the backyard. I
approached him slowly
and stood next to him, gazing at the sky. "Why are you here,
Heather?" He asked
coldly. I winced
slightly at his tone, but
shrugged it off. "I wanted to talk to
you." I said softly. "Well, I'm not in the
mood to talk." He
snapped. "William," I sighed. "NO, Heather. You
wouldn't understand."
He said, angrily. "What are you talking
about?" I asked,
feeling slightly
annoyed. "Like I said before,
you wouldn't
understand." "How do you know
that if you won't even
tell me?" I asked. His head snapped
towards me. "I just
know. Now, leave me
alone." I don't know what I
was thinking when I
decided to do what I
did next. I got on my
tiptoes and slammed
my lips on to his. I kissed him softly,
trying to get some sort
of reaction from him,
but he didn't even
respond. He pushed
me off gently and looked away. "I'm
sorry Heather, but not
right now." I stared at him with
tears in my eyes,
before shaking my
head and walking back
inside. I guess he just
needs space. I pulled my phone from my
pocket and texted Alex
and Nathan, explaining
the situation and
apologizing for not
being there. They replied that everything
went fine and not to
worry about it. "Heather?" I shifted
my gaze up to see a
worried Henry. I straightened and
smiled slightly. "Hi Mr.
Solace." He gave me a small
smile. "Call me Dad,
and did you talk to
William?" I sighed. "He doesn't
want to talk to me." He patted my
shoulder. "Don't worry,
I'll take care of him.
It's time we have a
father-son talk
anyways." I nodded, and he made
his way outside. William's POV "Son!" I heard my dad
call. I sighed and turned my
head to look at him.
"What? Did you come
here to yell at me?
Because I don't want
to hear it." "William, whether you
like it or not, I'm going
to talk. You screwed
up. Badly. Yet,
Heather still forgave
you. She loves you despite how much you
hurt her. Doesn't that
mean something to
you?" He asked. I glanced at him from
the corner of my eye.
He raised an eyebrow,
and I sighed, nodding
slowly. "It means
everything to me, dad. Everything. The fact
that she gave me a
chance means
everything." He nodded. "That's
what I thought.
William, when I was
around your age, I
was a man-whore." I gave him a what-the-
hell look. He chuckled.
"That came out wrong.
But anyways, until I
found your mother, I
broke hearts left and right. You weren't and
aren't like that. At all.
Ever since you were a
little boy, you treated
girls with kindness. I
remember when you were five, I took you
to the ice-cream shop,
so you could buy your
first ice-cream with
your very own money.
You were so proud of yourself when you got
the cone, but you saw
a little girl crying
because she fell down,
so you gave her your
ice-cream cone. From that day, I somehow
knew you wouldn't be
like me because I
would have never
done that. I was a
spoiled brat." I shook my head and
chuckled softly. He
smiled. "Back to the
point, you're not a
horrible man, William.
Not at all. You have a kind heart. Even
though you were
hurting Heather for
your revenge at first, it
soon turned into a way
for you to protect her from your sister.
Though, that was still
stupid. You could have
handled the situation in
so many different
ways, but you didn't. But, it's the past, it
stays in the past.
Right now, you need to
concentrate on the
present. Let go of your
guilt. It may seem wrong, but it isn't. It's
what Heather wants
for you to do. She
wants you to love her
without the guilt." I took a deep breath
and nodded. "Thank
you, dad. I needed
that." He grinned, and I gave
him a hug. "Now, I
think you know what
you need to do. I'll deal
with your mother." "Yes sir!" I said,
grinning. Heather's POV I paced back and forth
in our bedroom. Is
William going to talk to
me? Will he ever stop
feeling guilty? I have
no idea. Suddenly, the door
slammed open, and he
ran inside with a
serious look on his
face. I stared at
William confusedly, and he shook his
head. He pulled me to
him. "Heather Alice
Montgomery. You're
under arrest for
stealing my heart. You
have the right to
remain silent. Anything you say will be at the
altar. " He whispered
huskily in my ear. I stared at him in
shock as he grinned
and slipped a beautiful
ring on my finger. He
got down on one knee.
"Sweetheart, will you do me the honor of
renewing our vows?"