Regretting The Wife He Threw Away

Even though this wasn't the first time Ableson had seen his daughter reach for Cedric Clarke's hand, he still found it hard to watch.

The old man closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

Scarlett glanced at her husband, then turned to Cedric with a warm smile. "Dr. Clarke, Ableson and I are going to pick up a few things. Would you mind staying with Stella for a bit?"

Cedric nodded. "Of course."

With that, Scarlett gently pulled Ableson out of the hospital room.

The couple wandered into the small park tucked behind the hospital wing.

Scarlett broke the silence. "So, how did your chat with Dr. Clarke go?"

"Dr. Clarke's a good man. He's level-headed." Ableson took off his reading glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "But when a man's around the woman he likes, all that self-control can go out the window."

He spoke from experience-he'd been young and impulsive once, too. Some things, he knew, simply couldn't be restrained by good intentions alone.

"I don't quite see

glancing at his wife with a

did everything he could-time, money, whatever it took-when Stella got hurt. If it weren't for him, she might not have made it..." Scarlett's voice wavered at the memory, her eyes growing

been a little scatterbrained, too blunt for her own good, always

his lips together, giving a

Scarlett had a point.

their daughter's choices, but, just as Scarlett said, their time

hopeless at looking after herself-couldn't cook, couldn't keep a house to save

family, but they have a solid reputation. Cedric has two older brothers: the eldest is set to inherit, the second went into show business, and all three siblings

chuckled, half amused, half exasperated. "You've certainly done your research. What, if Stella says yes, are you ready to hand her over

grew serious. "I'm just scared, Ableson. After everything that's happened, I mean it-I

a long moment, before wrapping his arms

it as

that afternoon, in the café downstairs from the hospital, Cedric Clarke sat