Chapter 8 - THE SECRET MY HUSBAND TOOK TO THE ALTAR
Adrian knew.
The words repeated in my head until they lost their meaning.
He had received a letter from my father before our engagement.
A letter that suggested my father might have survived.
And he'd married me without telling me.
I picked up the phone.
This time, I didn't hesitate.
Adrian answered immediately.
"Claire?"
"Did you know my father was alive after the ambush?"
Silence.
Then a quiet breath.
"Where did you hear that?"
"Answer me."
Another pause.
"Yes."
The room seemed to tilt.
For a moment, I couldn't speak.
"You knew?"
"I received a letter."
"Before you proposed."
"Yes."
I closed my eyes.
Every birthday.
Every anniversary.
Every night I'd cried about missing my father.
Adrian had held me while keeping this secret.
"How could you?"
His voice was rough.
"I tried to verify the letter. I couldn't find him."
"So you decided I didn't deserve to know?"
"I was afraid the information would put you in danger."
"That wasn't your choice to make!"
My voice broke.
Thomas turned away, giving me privacy.
Adrian said nothing.
I gripped the phone.
"Did you ever intend to tell me?"
"Yes."
"When?"
He didn't answer.
And that was answer enough.
I laughed through tears.
"You keep saying you loved me, Adrian. But you never trusted me with my own life."
"I know."
"No. You don't."
I looked down at the wedding-ring indentation still visible on my finger.
"Because if you understood, you would have told me the truth before I promised to spend my life with you."
His breathing changed.
"Claire, I made the worst mistake of my life long before the kidnapping."
I swallowed.
"Yes. You did."
He whispered, "I thought protecting you meant keeping danger away from you. I never realized I was also keeping you powerless."
The admission hurt more than an excuse would have.
Because it meant he finally understood.
And I had no idea whether understanding could repair what he'd broken.
"I don't know if I can ever forgive you," I said.
"I know."
"I'm not coming home."
"I won't ask you to."
For the first time, Adrian didn't argue.
Didn't command.
Didn't try to pull me back into the life I'd escaped.
He simply said, "Tell me what you need."
I stared at the wall.
"I need the whole truth."
"Then I'll give it to you."
"Even if it destroys your family?"
His answer came without hesitation.
"Even then."
Before I could respond, Thomas appeared in the doorway.
His expression was urgent.
He handed me a new report.
At the top was a verified financial transaction.
Lily Monroe had transferred seven million dollars into a hidden account two days before the kidnapping.
The account's authorized beneficiary was listed as someone I had never expected.
Not Daniel.
Not Victor's old associates.
Not Adrian.
May you like
It was my dead mother.
Eleanor Bennett.
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