Chapter 3
Ethan's tuxedo was soaked before he reached the car.
Lucy climbed into the passenger seat without speaking.
She held the envelope against her chest again.
As if Victoria might somehow reach through the rain and steal it.
Ethan started the engine.
His hands were shaking.
"Seat belt."
Lucy clicked it into place.
Then she whispered,
"Mom said you'd hate her."
Ethan looked at her.
"What?"
"For lying."
He swallowed.
"I don't know what I feel yet."
"She didn't want to lie."
"I know."
"No, you don't."
Lucy turned toward the window.
"Nobody knows."
Ethan pulled away from the chapel.
Behind them, guests spilled beneath umbrellas onto the stone steps.
Victoria stood in the doorway.
Still wearing her wedding dress.
Watching them leave.
Ethan didn't look back again.
The hospital was twenty minutes away.
They made it in twelve.
Lucy ran before the car had fully stopped.
Ethan caught up inside the emergency entrance.
A nurse behind the desk recognized Lucy immediately.
"Room 612."
Lucy headed for the elevator.
The nurse looked at Ethan's tuxedo.
Then at the child.
Then back at him.
"You should prepare yourself."
Ethan's stomach tightened.
"For what?"
"Ms. Bennett is very weak."
The elevator ride felt endless.
Lucy stood in one corner.
Ethan stood in the other.
Neither knew what they were supposed to be to each other.
When the doors opened, Lucy ran again.
Room 612 was at the end of the hall.
She pushed through the door.
"Mom!"
Ethan stopped outside.
He couldn't move.
The woman in the bed was thinner than the Olivia he remembered.
Much thinner.
Her dark hair had been cut short.
Her skin was pale.
Machines surrounded her.
But it was Olivia.
Alive.
His knees nearly gave out.
For years he had mourned her.
He had stood beside an empty grave marker Victoria persuaded him to purchase.
He had spent birthdays wondering what Olivia might have looked like as she grew older.
And now she was ten feet away.
Alive.
Olivia opened her eyes.
Lucy climbed carefully onto the edge of the bed.
"I found him."
Olivia's gaze moved toward the doorway.
She saw Ethan.
Her face crumpled.
"Ethan."
He walked inside.
One step.
Then another.
"You are alive."
Olivia began crying.
"I'm sorry."
His anger came fast.
Not because he wanted it.
Because twelve years of pain suddenly had somewhere to go.
"You let me think you were dead."
"I know."
"You let me bury you."
"I didn't know about that."
"Victoria told me—"
His voice broke.
He stopped.
Olivia looked toward Lucy.
"Sweetheart, can you get me some water?"
Lucy hesitated.
"I don't want to leave."
"I'm okay."
Lucy looked at Ethan.
Then nodded and stepped into the hall.
The moment the door closed, Olivia whispered,
"She threatened Lucy."
Ethan went still.
"What?"
"Not just my mother. Lucy."
He moved closer.
"When?"
"Years ago."
Olivia fought for breath.
Ethan reached toward the nurse call button.
She grabbed his hand.
"No. Listen."
He sat beside her.
Olivia's fingers were cold.
"I was pregnant when Victoria came to see me."
Ethan said nothing.
"She knew before you did."
"How?"
"I told her."
The betrayal cut deeper.
"She was your friend."
"I thought she was."
Olivia closed her eyes.
"She told me you were going to propose."
Ethan remembered the ring he had purchased.
He had never gotten the chance to use it.
"That was true."
Olivia opened her eyes again.
"She said if I told you the baby was yours, she'd destroy your father's company."
Ethan frowned.
"How?"
"She had documents."
"What documents?"
"Loans. Tax problems. Something involving your father's business partner."
Ethan's father had been struggling then.
Pierce Development was nearly bankrupt.
Victoria's family had invested six months after Olivia disappeared.
Ethan felt sick.
"She said her father could save your family. But only if I disappeared."
"So you agreed?"
"No."
Olivia's voice strengthened.
"I told her to go to hell."
For the first time, Ethan recognized the woman he had loved.
"What changed?"
"She followed me home."
Olivia looked toward the door.
"Lucy wasn't born yet. My mother was sick. Victoria had photographs of her house. Her hospital. My appointments."
Ethan's blood went cold.
"She threatened you."
"She never said she'd hurt anyone."
Olivia laughed weakly.
"She didn't have to."
Ethan stared at the floor.
"Why tell me Lucy wasn't mine?"
"Because you would've fought."
"Yes."
"And your father would have lost everything."
"I wouldn't have cared."
"I knew."
Tears rolled toward Olivia's ears.
"That was the problem."
Ethan stood.
"You should've trusted me."
"I was twenty-three."
"And I was twenty-five."
"I was terrified."
"So was I!"
The words came out louder than he meant.
A monitor changed rhythm.
Olivia winced.
Ethan immediately lowered his voice.
"I'm sorry."
"No. You're allowed."
He pressed both hands against his face.
"I spent twelve years believing you left because you didn't love me."
Olivia whispered,
"I loved you too much."
That hurt even worse.
Ethan looked at her.
"And Lucy?"
Olivia smiled through tears.
"She's yours."
His chest tightened.
"Are you certain?"
"Yes."
"Did you ever test?"
"No."
"Then how—"
"Because there was no one else."
Silence.
Ethan sat again.
For a few seconds, he couldn't speak.
"Why now?"
Olivia's gaze shifted to the window.
"I found out Victoria was marrying you."
"So you sent Lucy?"
"No."
Ethan looked at her sharply.
Olivia's face changed.
"I told Lucy everything three nights ago. I gave her the envelope in case something happened to me."
"She came alone?"
"I told her not to."
Ethan's heart stopped.
"Then how did she know where the wedding was?"
Olivia stared at him.
"I don't know."
The door opened.
Lucy returned with water.
And a man in a dark suit stepped in behind her.
He was in his late fifties.
Gray hair.
Expensive coat.
Ethan recognized him immediately.
Victoria's father.
Richard Hale.
Lucy froze.
Olivia's monitor began beeping faster.
Ethan stood between Richard and the bed.
"What are you doing here?"
Richard closed the door behind him.
"I came to prevent another mistake."
Ethan's fists tightened.
"You have ten seconds to leave."
Richard ignored him.
He looked directly at Olivia.
"You were paid to stay gone."
Lucy gasped.
Ethan crossed the room so fast that Richard took a step backward.
"You knew."
Richard didn't blink.
"Of course I knew."
Ethan grabbed his lapels.
"You helped her."
"I saved your family."
Ethan's hand tightened.
Richard looked toward Olivia.
"And she saved hers."
Lucy shouted,
"Get out!"
Richard's eyes moved to her.
For the first time, something like uncertainty crossed his face.
Then he looked back at Ethan.
"If you think those checks are the worst thing Victoria has hidden from you, you're wrong."
Ethan released him slowly.
"What does that mean?"
Richard adjusted his jacket.
"It means you should ask why your father really died."
The room went silent.
Ethan stared at him.
His father had died seven years earlier.
Heart attack.
At least that was what everyone had believed.
Richard reached into his coat.
He placed a small key on the table.
"Your father kept a safe-deposit box."
Ethan didn't move.
May you like
Richard's next words changed everything.
"Victoria has spent seven years trying to find the key."
