My Father Gave the King His Youngest Daughter, and My Sister Chose Which One novel · Chapter 15 of 24
Chapter 15: The Forgiven Debt
Ximun's POV
I said it on a Thursday, in the hall of the Basque cultural center on the Block, because it was the only room in the south country that held every outfit at once.
It was the quarterly meeting.
The ranchers sat on folding chairs in their good hats with their coffee in paper cups, and their wives stood along the back wall.
My cousins took the front row.
I had not slept in two nights, and I had not shaved.
I walked up the aisle to the table at the front, and the room went quiet in the way it always does for me.
I had never liked that quiet.
I had thought for six years that it meant I was respected.
I put my hat on the table.
"The Iriondo note," I said.
Nobody coughed.
"Four million, one hundred and twelve thousand dollars.
"Eleven years.
"I have carried it on my books and told you all to be patient with a family, and you were."
I looked at them.
"I'm forgiving it.
"All of it.
"The principal, and every quarter of interest I was paid on it, which was never the Iriondos' money to pay."
The silence broke.
A chair went over.
My uncle came half out of his seat with his mouth working, and the old man who owned half a county sat very still with his cup halfway to his lips.
"You can't," my uncle said.
"It's not yours to forgive.
"It's the house's."
"It's mine," I said.
"I'm the house."
"Ximun, in God's name.
"What do you owe them?"
"Nothing," I said.
"I owe one of them, and she has not asked for a dime."
I heard it go through the room, the name nobody had said.
The girl who took his hat.
The girl he bought.
I let them look at me.
"I took a daughter from that table," I said, "for a debt I never checked.
"She was not the debtor.
"The woman who was is not in this room, and I will say her name when I can prove what she did.
The rest of this chapter is part of the paid portion of the series. Chapters 1–6 of My Father Gave the King His Youngest Daughter, and My Sister Chose Which One are free to read — start from the beginning, then unlock the rest with coins in the app.
← Chapter 14 · All chapters · Chapter 16 →
Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend