Chapter 13: The Last Lie Isaac Told
For a few seconds, I couldn’t move.
The world around me continued.
The wind moved through the trees.
The old greenhouse creaked behind me.
Somewhere in the distance, a car passed along the empty road.
But all I could hear was one sentence.
“Since the day I met you.””
I stared at Isaac.
The man I had loved.
The man I had trusted.
The man who had looked me in the eyes every morning and told me he was lucky to have me.
“How?””
My voice barely came out.
“How did you know?””
Isaac looked exhausted.
Not the kind of exhaustion caused by losing money or power.
The kind caused by finally being unable to run from the truth.
“Your mother contacted my family before you and I met.””
I felt my hands go cold.
“Why?””
“Because she knew the Vances were dangerous.””
My mother stepped outside the greenhouse.
“You knew too much.””
Isaac looked at her.
“Yes.””
“And you still married her.””
His face tightened.
“I didn’t know how to stop it.””
I laughed.
A quiet, painful sound.
“Stop it?””
I stepped toward him.
“You could have told me.””
“Yes.””
“You could have walked away.””
“Yes.””
“You could have done one honest thing.””
His eyes dropped.
“I know.””
The admission should have satisfied me.
It didn’t.
Because regret after destruction wasn’t the same as choosing not to destroy.
“Why Clover?””
Isaac looked away.
I already knew the answer would hurt.
But I needed to hear it.
“She was supposed to make you leave me.””
The words hit harder than I expected.
My mother went still.
“Explain.””
Isaac swallowed.
“My family believed Flora would never abandon me.””
He looked at me.
“They knew your loyalty. Your patience. They knew you would forgive almost anything.””
My chest tightened.
“So they chose someone who would break me.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
He looked at the ground.
“Because they wanted control of the Sterling connection.””
I stared at him.
“And you agreed.””
His silence was enough.
The worst part was that he didn’t deny it.
Not anymore.
“I was supposed to marry you,” he said quietly.
“Build trust.””
“Secure the partnership.””
“Then eventually…”
He stopped.
“Eventually what?””
His voice became smaller.
“Eventually they expected me to divorce you.””
The night suddenly felt colder.
A planned ending.
A planned marriage.
A planned betrayal.
My entire life with Isaac had been a story someone else wrote.
“You knew everything.””
“No.””
He looked at me.
“I knew pieces.””
“That’s not better.””
“I know.””
He stepped closer.
“I swear to you, Flora, there was a point where it became real.””
I looked at him.
“Real?””
“Yes.””
“When?””
He struggled to answer.
And that hesitation destroyed the last piece of sympathy I had left.
Because even now, he had to search for the moment he started loving me.
“I don’t know.””
The honesty hurt more than a lie.
“I don’t know when it changed.””
I looked away.
Because I did know.
I knew exactly when I loved him.
The first time he stayed up all night with me when my father was sick.
The first time he held my hand during a storm.
The first time he told me I made his life quieter.
Those memories were real to me.
But maybe they were just useful moments to him.
My mother stepped beside me.
“Flora, there’s something else.””
I closed my eyes.
Of course there was.
There was always something else.
“What?””
She looked at Isaac.
“Tell her.””
He went pale.
“Mom—”
My mother’s expression hardened.
“Tell her.””
I looked between them.
“What?””
Isaac took a deep breath.
“Your father knows.””
My heart stopped.
“Knows what?””
“That I was involved.””
The answer was immediate.
Too immediate.
My father knew.
My brothers knew.
Everyone knew pieces of my life except me.
I felt anger rising again.
“They all knew?””
Isaac nodded.
“Your brothers discovered the plan years ago.””
I stared.
“And they let me marry you?””
“No.””
He shook his head.
“They tried to stop it.””
I looked at my mother.
“Then why didn’t they tell me?””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“Because you loved him.””
The sentence hurt because it was true.
They knew.
They knew I would defend him.
They knew I would choose hope.
So they chose silence.
Again.
My phone rang.
Noah.
I answered.
“What?””
His voice immediately changed.
“Flora, where are you?””
“I found Mom.””
Silence.
Then:
“Is she safe?””
“Yes.””
A pause.
“Are you?””
I looked at Isaac.
At the man who had been my husband.
At the person who had built a life around a lie.
“No.””
Noah became quiet.
Then he said:
“Come home.””
I looked toward the road.
But before I could answer, my mother grabbed my arm.
“Wait.””
I turned.
She looked terrified.
Not worried.
Terrified.
“What?””
She pointed toward the darkness beyond the trees.
“There’s someone else here.””
A figure stood near the road.
Watching us.
Then the person stepped into the light.
And my blood turned cold.
Because it wasn’t one of Isaac’s enemies.
May you like
It wasn’t one of my father’s.
It was someone from my own family.
