Chapter 4 - THE SECRET HIS SISTER HAD KEPT
Olivia arrived at the mansion just after six.
Damian was waiting in his study.
She swept through the doorway wearing cream trousers and an expensive cashmere coat.
“Damian, you sounded dramatic on the phone.”
He didn't smile.
“Sit down.”
Olivia paused.
“What's wrong?”
“Do you remember the winter benefit?”
She laughed.
“Oh, God. Is Emma still upset about that?”
Damian watched her.
“Did you change the catering date?”
Olivia's smile faltered.
“What?”
“Answer me.”
She crossed her arms.
“That was years ago.”
“Did you?”
A long silence.
Then she shrugged.
“It was a misunderstanding.”
Damian stared.
“You told me Emma ruined the event.”
Olivia looked away.
“I was going through a divorce. I was stressed.”
“And she took the blame for you.”
Olivia's expression hardened.
“Emma loves being the martyr.”
Damian stood.
“Stop.”
She blinked.
He had never spoken to her that way.
“Damian—”
“Stop calling my wife a liar because you don't like what the truth says about you.”
Olivia's face flushed.
“She turned you against me.”
“No,” he said quietly. “You did that yourself.”
Olivia began crying.
Damian had spent most of his life responding to those tears.
He had protected his younger sister after their father's death.
Paid her debts.
Rescued her from disastrous relationships.
Excused her cruelty because he remembered the frightened little girl she'd once been.
Now he watched her cry and understood something.
He had confused protecting Olivia with allowing her to hurt everyone else.
“I'm not discussing Emma with you again,” he said.
Olivia wiped her cheeks.
“You're choosing her over your own blood?”
Damian stared at her.
“I'm choosing to stop helping you lie.”
After she left, Damian returned to the bedroom.
He picked up the diary.
He should have stopped reading.
Instead, he opened it again.
May 21.
Damian forgot our anniversary.
His mother remembered.
She asked whether I'd done something to upset him.
I said he was busy.
I made dinner anyway.
July 9.
I found out Damian gave Olivia the necklace he had promised me for my birthday.
He said Olivia needed cheering up.
I told him it was beautiful on her.
September 14.
I dreamed about opening a small bookstore.
Damian said I would be bored within a month.
Maybe he's right.
Damian sat down.
He remembered dismissing the bookstore.
He'd thought I was being whimsical.
He had never asked why I wanted it.
Then he reached a page marked with a pressed white flower.
October 2.
I was pregnant.
Damian stopped breathing.
He read the line again.
I was pregnant.
His hand began to shake.
He turned the page.
October 5.
The doctor confirmed it.
I bought a tiny pair of yellow socks.
I wanted to tell Damian tonight.
He came home furious about a contract.
He said he couldn't handle another problem.
So I waited.
Damian's mouth went dry.
He turned another page.
October 11.
I started bleeding.
Grace took me to the hospital.
The doctor said the pregnancy was not viable.
I lost our baby before Damian ever knew there was one.
The diary slipped from his hands.
For several seconds, Damian couldn't move.
He had never known.
Never suspected.
He remembered that week.
He'd been fighting a rival over a port contract.
He had barely come home.
When I told him I needed rest, he'd said everyone was tired.
He had gone back to work.
He picked up the diary.
The next entry was only four lines.
October 13.
I buried the yellow socks in the garden beneath the white camellia.
I didn't know what else to do.
I wish someone had held my hand.
Damian bent forward.
His shoulders shook.
He had lost a child.
May you like
But I had lost a child alone.
And for years, he had never known enough about my life to notice.
