Just before my son proposed, my little niece knocked the ring away and shouted: “Stop! This isn’t real!”

The thought of leaving him a fortune with no purpose, no direction, chilled me.

The next day, I called him into my office.

“Louis, I have one condition. Settle down. Commit. Or I cut you off. No inheritance. No more support. If you want a future, build it.”

And for the first time, I thought I saw a flicker of clarity in his eyes.

Two weeks later, he told me he’d met someone.

A month after that, it was official. Three months later, they were engaged.

The party was extravagant. Far too extravagant, if you asked me.

The venue, the food, the decorations… everything was over the top. And all paid for by me.

At the center: Élisa, a stunning woman with dark hair, elegant and charming. Perfect. Too perfect.

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