Chapter 2 - THE SISTER WHO NEVER BECAME HIS WIFE
“That's impossible.”
My voice sounded strange in the quiet restaurant corridor.
Adrian watched me carefully.
“Which part?”
“All of it.”
He stepped closer.
I immediately moved back.
He stopped.
“I'm not going to hurt you, Evelyn.”
“You already did.”
The words landed between us.
Adrian looked down.
For a moment, I saw the man I remembered—the one who used to bring me coffee when I worked late, who knew I hated thunderstorms, who once drove through a blizzard because I had called him crying after my father's funeral.
Then he raised his eyes.
“I know.”
I didn't expect that.
Seven years earlier, he had offered explanations.
Excuses.
Instructions not to overreact.
Now he simply acknowledged what he'd done.
It didn't make me feel better.
“Why would Lily contact someone using my name?”
“We don't know.”
“Who is we?”
“Her attorney. A private investigator. The police.”
I stared.
“You went to the police?”
“Yes.”
That surprised me.
The Adrian I remembered preferred handling problems through men who wore dark suits and never introduced themselves.
He saw my expression.
“A lot has changed.”
“Not enough for me to trust you.”
“I understand.”
I crossed my arms.
“Did you marry her?”
His face hardened.
“No.”
“Were you together after I left?”
“No.”
I laughed once.
“You expect me to believe that?”
“I'm telling you the truth.”
“You were also telling me the truth when you said you were coming home to marry me.”
He flinched.
Good.
I wanted him to remember.
“Evelyn—”
“Did you sleep with my sister?”
The question had lived inside me for seven years.
I had never asked it directly.
Never allowed myself to imagine the answer spoken aloud.
Adrian stared at me.
Then said, “Yes.”
The corridor seemed to tilt.
I had known.
Of course I had known.
But hearing him admit it was different.
“How long?”
He swallowed.
“Three months.”
I looked away.
Three months.
While I selected flowers.
While I mailed invitations.
While I tried on the wedding dress my mother had helped me choose.
Three months of lies.
“Did she know you were still engaged to me?”
“Yes.”
My chest tightened.
“Did you love her?”
“No.”
I looked back at him.
“Then why?”
Adrian was silent.
I laughed bitterly.
“Still can't answer that one?”
“I can.”
He took a breath.
“I was selfish. I was lonely. I was angry about things happening in my business, and I used that as an excuse to do something unforgivable.”
I stared.
“That's it?”
“That's the truth.”
“No grand conspiracy?”
“No.”
“No secret mission to protect me?”
“No.”
I looked at him for a long moment.
Then whispered, “You destroyed my life because you were lonely?”
His face crumpled.
“I know.”
I shook my head.
“No, Adrian. You don't.”
I returned to my hotel shortly before midnight.
The moment I closed the door, I sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the carpet.
I had spent seven years imagining a thousand explanations.
Maybe Lily had manipulated him.
Maybe someone had threatened him.
Maybe there had been some terrible misunderstanding.
But there hadn't been.
He had wanted something.
And he'd taken it.
Knowing it would hurt me.
That was the answer.
It was almost insultingly ordinary.
My phone rang.
A Boston number.
My business partner, Daniel Brooks.
“Evelyn?”
“Hi.”
“You okay?”
I closed my eyes.
“Long night.”
“Did you meet the Chicago investors?”
“Yes.”
“How'd it go?”
I thought of Adrian.
Then Lily.
Then the missing-person case.
“Complicated.”
Daniel was quiet.
“Do you want me to fly out?”
I smiled faintly.
“No.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. But remember, you're not obligated to take this contract.”
I looked toward the window.
Chicago glittered beneath the night sky.
“I know.”
And that was the difference between the woman I had been and the woman I had become.
Seven years ago, I would have stayed because Adrian wanted me to.
Now I would stay only if I decided there was a reason.
The next morning, a package arrived at my hotel.
No sender.
Inside was a photograph.
Lily.
Standing outside my Boston office.
The date printed on the back was three months earlier.
May you like
Beneath it, someone had written:
SHE CAME TO FIND YOU.
