My Twin And Faincé Betrayed me...So I Married His Rival

Chapter 10

*Richard's POV*

“How bad is it?” I asked the nurse, my voice was hoarse and tired.

She didn’t answer right away. After the team had stabilized me, only she remained in the room, quietly adjusting the sheets and checking the machines around my bed.

The silence stretched. I gathered what little strength I had and spoke again, more firmly. “Please… I need the pure truth. No gentle lies. How much time do I really have left?”

The nurse finally looked at me, her eyes filled with deep sadness. She took a slow breath before replying. “Mr. Harrington… at best, you have about a year. But it won’t be easy. You’ll be on very strong medication. The pain will be constant and severe. And even that one year… it’s not guaranteed.”

Her voice trembled with genuine emotion as she spoke.

I nodded slowly, letting the truth sink in. “I understand. Thank you for not hiding it from me.”

After a moment, I added quietly, “With so little time left… I need to fix the wrongs I’ve done in my life. I don’t want to leave this world carrying such a heavy heart.”

The nurse paused in her work and looked at me with kind concern. “Would you like to talk about it? Sometimes sharing the burden makes it a little lighter.”

I gave her a small, weary smile. “Yes… I think I need to.”

I began speaking, my voice was low and full of regret. “I have done many terrible things in my life. Atrocities that I thought I could bury forever. But now they are coming back to haunt me in the worst possible way.”

The nurse stayed quiet, giving me space.

“Years ago, when my son was still very young, I had an affair with a married woman,” I confessed. “We were both trapped in unhappy marriages. It started as something casual… just two people seeking comfort. But one day she came to my office in tears and told me she was pregnant. With twins. And she was certain they were mine.”

My chest tightened as the memories flooded back. “I panicked. I loved my wife. I had built a name, a reputation, an empire. That kind of scandal would destroy everything I had worked for. So I… I turned her away. I denied the children were mine. I threatened her, told her I would ruin her if she ever came near me again. But I gave her money, a lot of money and told her to end the pregnancy.”

I swallowed hard, shame burning in my throat. “Later, I heard she decided to keep the babies and raised them as her husband’s. They had been desperate for children, so she let him believe they were his. I convinced myself it was none of my concern. I pushed it out of my mind and never looked back.”

The nurse’s eyes widened, but she didn’t interrupt.

“Until today,” I continued, my voice cracking. “My only son walked into this room holding the hand of one of those twins, She is her mother's carbon copy! Exactly the same face… and my son told me she is the woman he wants to marry. That she is carrying his child. After all these years, the past has finally caught up with me. Nemesis has come for me at last.”

“Oh my God…” the nurse gasped, her hands flying up to cover her mouth in pure shock.

I nodded slowly, tears welling in my eyes. “The worst part is… she is already pregnant with his baby, so it's not like their union can be dissolved easily.”

The nurse was silent for a long moment, clearly shaken. Then she asked gently, “What are you going to do now, Mr. Harrington?”

I let out a heavy sigh. “Earlier, I refused to support the marriage. I fought against it with everything I had. But now… I have to face reality. They are both in love with each other. She is already carrying his child, and I only have a year left — if I’m lucky. I want to see my grandchild. I want to hold that baby before I go.”

I said the last part vehemently, my voice gaining strength despite my weakness.

“So… I will let them get married,” I declared.

The nurse’s face filled with horror. “But sir… you would be letting them commit the sin of incest. You’d be allowing them to walk straight into their own doom.”

I looked at her with tired eyes full of regret. “This will be the price I have to pay for all the terrible things I’ve done in my life.”

A heavy silence fell between us. After a while, the nurse asked softly, “Are you going to tell them the truth?”

I shook my head slowly, pain twisting in my chest. “They deserve to know the truth… but that will be after I’m long gone. I cannot face them. I don’t have the strength. All that matters to me now is seeing my grandchild.”