He Left the Altar to Save His First Love

Chapter 5: Not the Only One

Yolanda's fingers closed around the flash drive.

Even half-conscious, she understood what mattered. She held it against her chest until Marco stepped into the room, then pressed it into his palm.

"Truth," she whispered.

Marco kissed her hand. "I have it now."

"No," she breathed. "They have more children."

Marco went still.

The words from earlier returned.

She's not the only one.

Not Sofia.

Not Mateo.

More children.

The flash drive exposed everything.

Marco's father had used Voss to hide Yolanda after she refused to sign away her rights. But the secret was larger than one woman. The private clinic had been used for years to bury scandals involving powerful men, unwanted heirs, and mothers with no legal protection. Yolanda had found records while trapped there. That was why they kept her sedated. That was why they kept moving her. That was why Sofia had risked walking into a wedding full of strangers.

The police came before dawn.

Voss was arrested at the hospital. Marco's father was taken from his estate two hours later. Celeste gave testimony in exchange for protection, but Marco never spoke to her again outside the courtroom.

Yolanda survived.

Recovery was slow. Some days she could barely sit up. Some days she cried because she had lost six years with the man she loved and watched her children grow up in hospital corridors.

Marco did not ask for forgiveness.

He brought the children every morning. He read the letters he never received. He sat beside her bed and listened when she was angry. When she pushed him away, he came back the next day.

Months later, Sofia stood between them in a small garden outside the hospital.

"Are you staying this time?" she asked Marco.

Marco looked at Yolanda first.

Then at Sofia and Mateo.

"If your mom lets me," he said.

Yolanda's eyes filled with tears.

After a long moment, she reached for his hand.

Not fully forgiven.

Not fully healed.

But not alone anymore.