Chapter 10 - The Husband's Secret
Willow kept the phone against her ear.
Lucas watched her carefully.
“What is she saying?”
Willow ignored him.
Marion continued.
“Three years ago, Lucas found Richard’s private legal files.”
Willow’s chest tightened.
“How much did he see?”
“Enough.”
Lucas stood.
“Give me the phone.”
Willow moved away.
Marion’s voice trembled.
“He knew the Hale acquisition was fraudulent.”
The café seemed to become silent around Willow.
“He knew?”
“Yes.”
“He didn’t know about Evelyn’s death.”
“But he knew your family had a claim.”
Willow looked at Lucas.
Five years of marriage rearranged itself in her memory.
The questions about her father.
The insistence that she sign prenuptial amendments.
The pressure to close her gallery.
The strange interest Richard took in whether she planned to have children.
Willow ended the call.
Lucas spoke first.
“I was going to tell you.”
“When?”
“I needed proof.”
“You had three years.”
“I was afraid.”
Willow laughed quietly.
“You hit me because you were afraid.”
“That isn’t fair.”
“No.”
Her voice sharpened.
“Fair was what I kept giving you while you were lying to me.”
Lucas lowered his eyes.
“My father told me your claim could destroy thousands of jobs.”
“And you believed him.”
“I believed the company mattered.”
“More than me?”
Lucas did not answer.
Willow nodded.
“There it is.”
He reached toward her.
She stepped back.
“I loved you.”
His face broke slightly.
Willow continued.
“That is the part you will never understand.”
“I wasn’t waiting for your money.”
“I wasn’t waiting for your name.”
“I was waiting for you to choose me once.”
Lucas whispered.
“I can still fix this.”
“No.”
Willow picked up the photograph.
“You can tell the truth.”
“That might send my father to prison.”
“Yes.”
“It could destroy Sterling Global.”
“Yes.”
Lucas stared at her.
“And me?”
Willow looked at the bruise his father had left on his face.
For a second she saw the frightened child Richard had shaped.
Then she remembered Lucas’s hand crossing her face.
“I am not responsible for saving you from the man you decided to become.”
She walked away.
Behind her, Lucas remained seated.
His phone vibrated.
A message from Richard appeared.
COME HOME.
WE NEED TO HANDLE WILLOW TONIGHT.
Lucas read the sentence three times.
May you like
Then, for the first time in his life, he took a screenshot of his father’s message and sent it to someone else.
He sent it to Willow.
