built over generations. But it came with an arranged marriage he never wanted and expectations that suffocated him. Years ago, he walked away from all of it. From the money, the power, the name. He said he met me soon after and fell in love with the simplicity, the freedom. With me. The Mercedes, the suit—it was for one last meeting. To cut legal and financial ties, for good. I was stunned. Hurt. But more than anything, I was overwhelmed. How could he have kept something so huge from me?
He said he didn’t want that world to touch ours. He didn’t want it to define us. A week later, he called. The small business he’d quietly been building with a friend had taken off. No family money. Just hard work. His own terms. I told him, “Come home.” He did. We got married, truly married this time—no secrets, no hidden past. We still live simply. But now, everything we have is built on truth. And love. And that, finally, is enough.