Chapter 3 - Lily’s Confession
I found Lily at her apartment that evening.
I stood outside her door for almost five minutes.
I didn't know what I was feeling.
Anger.
Curiosity.
Fear.
Maybe all three.
The door opened.
She saw me.
Her face collapsed.
“Evelyn.”
Neither of us moved.
Then she started crying.
I hated that.
I didn't want to comfort her.
I wanted answers.
“Tell me the truth.”
She nodded.
“Everything?”
“Everything.”
She stepped aside.
I entered.
The apartment looked completely different from the home I remembered.
No expensive clothes.
No designer bags.
No glamorous photographs.
Just books, plants, and a small kitchen table.
“You changed.”
“So did you.”
I sat.
She remained standing.
“I never wanted to hurt you.”
“You did.”
“I know.”
“You let me believe you were with Adrian.”
“Yes.”
“You told people he proposed.”
“Yes.”
“You were wearing a ring.”
“It was fake.”
“You watched me leave.”
She began crying harder.
“I wanted to follow you.”
“Then why didn't you?”
“Because Adrian stopped me.”
“Why?”
“He said if I went after you, the people watching us would know something had gone wrong.”
I looked away.
“What happened after I left?”
“Adrian stayed at the airport for three hours.”
I froze.
“What?”
“He didn't know whether you would come back.”
“Why didn't he?”
“He thought chasing you would destroy your freedom.”
I laughed quietly.
“I spent seven years thinking he didn't care.”
“He almost died from that lie.”
“What?”
“He stopped eating.”
I looked at her.
“Don't romanticize him.”
“I'm not.”
“Then don't.”
“I watched it.”
She sat across from me.
“He became colder. He stopped dating. He worked constantly. He expanded his business. He destroyed anyone who tried to use your name against him.”
“Anyone?”
“Anyone.”
I hated how much I wanted to believe her.
“What about you?”
“I stayed single.”
I frowned.
“Why?”
“Because I knew I didn't deserve to move on while you thought I had betrayed you.”
“That isn't fair to you.”
“It wasn't about fairness.”
I studied her.
“Did you ever love him?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Not even once?”
“I loved you more.”
My throat tightened.
She opened a drawer.
Inside were the wedding photographs from seven years ago.
Except there was something strange about them.
The pictures of Adrian and Lily existed.
But every one had been edited.
“There were professionals involved?”
“Yes.”
“For what?”
“Surveillance.”
I realized something.
“Who knew?”
“Only Adrian, me, and one other person.”
“Who?”
She looked frightened.
“His name was Marcus Bell.”
“Who is he?”
“Adrian's head of security.”
“Where is he now?”
“Dead.”
I stared at her.
“When?”
“Six months after you left.”
“How?”
“Car accident.”
“That doesn't sound like an accident.”
“It wasn't.”
She handed me a file.
Marcus had been investigating Daniel Carter.
My uncle.
The man my family believed was dead.
“He discovered something,” Lily said.
“What?”
“Daniel had been working with people inside Moretti Holdings.”
My heart pounded.
“Inside the company?”
“Yes.”
“Who?”
“We don't know.”
I opened the file.
There were photographs.
Employees.
Contracts.
Shipping records.
Then I saw one name.
Ethan Ward.
Adrian's chief financial officer.
The man who had attended my engagement party.
The man who had toasted our future.
“You think Ethan betrayed Adrian?”
“We think he helped Daniel.”
“Why?”
“I don't know.”
“Where is he?”
“Still working for Adrian.”
That frightened me more than anything.
When I returned home, Adrian was waiting outside my building.
I became angry immediately.
“You said you respected my choices.”
“I do.”
“Then why are you here?”
“Because Lily called me.”
I stopped.
“She told you?”
“She told me you found Ethan's name.”
“How do you know?”
“Because Ethan already knows you are back.”
I felt cold.
Adrian stepped closer.
“You need security.”
“No.”
“Evelyn.”
“No.”
“I am not asking you to come back to me.”
“Good.”
“I am asking you to stay alive.”
I looked at him.
That sounded exactly like the man I had known.
Except now I understood the fear underneath the control.
“I can protect myself.”
“I know.”
“Then trust me.”
He nodded.
“I will.”
He turned.
“Wait.”
He looked back.
“Tell me one thing.”
“What?”
“Did you really love me?”
His answer came instantly.
“Yes.”
“Even after I left?”
“Yes.”
“Even when you thought I hated you?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
He gave me a sad smile.
“Because you were the only person who ever made me want to become someone better.”
Then he walked away.
I stood there watching him.
For the first time in seven years, I wanted to follow.
May you like
But I didn't.
Not yet.
