“She resigned six months later,” Blake said. “Moved to London.”
Maren’s face had gone pale.
“What is it?” Blake asked.
She hesitated.
Then she said, “Lydia Crane works for Victoria Kane now.”
A chill passed through me.
Blake stared at her.
“What?”
Maren nodded slowly. “Chief of private operations. She joined the Kane family office three years ago.”
The suite seemed to tilt.
Victoria.
The call at the airport.
The engagement rumors.
The woman standing closest to Blake’s present life.
And Lydia, the woman who may have erased the only message that could have saved our past.
Blake reached for the back of his chair as if he needed it to remain standing.
“I didn’t know.”
I gave a small, broken laugh.
“That seems to be the theme of your life.”
For once, he had no defense.
Daniel gathered the envelopes.
“We’re leaving.”
Blake stepped forward.
“Emma, please.”
I looked at him, and something inside me shifted.
For five years, I had believed Blake chose not to know.
Now there was a worse possibility.
That someone had made sure he didn’t.
But the result was the same.
I had been alone.
My sons had been fatherless.
And Blake Harrington had spent five years hating me for a betrayal that never existed.
“Find out what happened to that voicemail,” I said.
His eyes burned into mine.
“I will.”
“And Blake?”
“Yes?”
“If this is another Harrington game, I will not just walk away this time.”
His voice dropped.
“It isn’t.”
Before I could answer, the suite door opened.
A woman stepped inside without knocking.
Tall, elegant, dressed in ivory, with diamonds at her ears and a smile sharp enough to cut silk.
Victoria Kane.
She looked first at Blake.
Then at me.
Then at the envelopes in Daniel’s hand.
Her smile did not fade.
“How touching,” she said. “A family reunion.”
Blake’s expression darkened.
“Victoria, leave.”
But she didn’t move.
Instead, she lifted her phone.
On the screen was a photograph.
My boys in our backyard.
Taken that morning.
Through the fence.
My blood turned to ice.
Victoria tilted her head.
“They really do look like him, Emma.”
Blake went still.
Daniel took one step toward her.
Victoria’s smile widened.
Then she said the words that made the room go silent.
“You should have accepted the settlement five years ago.”
I stared at her.
“What settlement?”
Blake turned slowly.
“What are you talking about?”
For the first time, Victoria’s smile faltered.
Only slightly.
But enough.
And in that tiny crack, I saw the shape of something much larger than jealousy.
Something planned.
Something buried.
Something that had been waiting five years to come back.
…If you want to know what happened next, please type “YES” and like for more.
