Ribbons Unbound: My Fiancé's Lingering Regret novel Chapter 7

"Mommy," my son whispered, "are they talking about Uncle Ethan?"

I readjusted his eye mask. "You misheard. Go back to sleep, sweetheart. I'm right here."

Oliver slept until we landed.

In familiar surroundings, he became noticeably happier, taking eager steps toward the exit.

I quickly held him back. "Oliver, we need to catch another flight."

"We're going to Edinburgh to see Grandma."

Standing at the entrance to my hometown, I felt a momentary hesitation.

For my sake, my parents had once flown to America to meet Ethan.

They never approved of him.

It was me who insisted on our handfasting ceremony, even starting a business with him.

Ethan always assumed I agreed to handfasting because I loved him so deeply that I was willing to date with him without marriage.

Little did he know, I embraced handfasting as part of my own heritage.

I grew up in a proud Irish family from Edinburgh, where women have maintained their independence for generations.

In my family, the women kept their surnames, owned their own land, and passed down their strength through the maternal line—my grandmother often said we had Celtic warrior queens in our blood.

Taking a deep breath, I led Oliver toward home.

Along the way, childhood friends and elders greeted me as if I'd never left.

When my mother saw me, she welcomed me with tears streaming down her face.

That evening, the whole family gathered warmly for a reunion dinner.

Oliver hadn't experienced such family warmth in a long time. He held my hand and said:

"Mom, I love it here."

At the Ferrers estate, Ethan's mother had been almost cruel in her demands of us.

When they ate, we were expected to serve them.

When we ate, we endured constant criticism.

Thinking of this, I kissed my son's soft little cheek. "Then we'll stay here forever and never go back."

My son nodded, finally showing some childlike innocence.

Just then, my neighbor rushed in from outside: "Freya, you'd better come see."

"That man you were engaged to is causing a scene at the entrance!"

Hearing that Ethan had arrived.

Instantly, the smiles disappeared from both my and Oliver's faces.

With the Ferrers family's resources, I wasn't surprised they'd found us so quickly.

I adjusted my dress as I headed toward the entrance. Before I even arrived, I could hear my sisters teasing him:

"So you're the man Freya chose? You look useless."

A circle of iron rods struck the ground with a clanging sound, "What do you want to do with our Freya!"

"Back off!"

I leaned on my sister's shoulder: "Ethan, this is where I grew up."

"In the Gwendolyn family, we're taught from childhood that women stand on their own, build their own homes."

"I advise you not to come any closer. My sisters won't treat you kindly!"

Ethan seemed stunned. The Freya he knew had never spoken to him like this.

I spoke impatiently: "You didn't come all this way just to say these things, did you?"

Ethan shook his head.

After a while, as if with great difficulty, he managed to say:

"I came to apologize."

"Freya, I was wrong. I love you. Please come back, let's make our life together work."

When he finished, he looked up at me with complete certainty.

Certain that I would forgive him, certain that I would go with him.

An overwhelming sense of absurdity washed over me.

I laughed derisively: "What?"