Chapter 3

3: 3

3

In the afternoon, I went to the care facility.

Mom's condition was unstable, good some days and bad others.

She'd had an episode at noon, and after the doctor gave her a sedative she was still deep in sleep.

I held her hand, so much bitterness in me and no idea where to begin.

Years ago, my father had thrown the two of us away for the sake of his own future.

He remarried quickly, and before long had another daughter.

The betrayal broke my mother; she lost her mind, and the year I turned seven she was sent to the care facility.

Life after they brought me back to the Sullivan house was not easy.

My stepmother and my sister found ways to torment and humiliate me at every turn, and my father simply looked the other way.

It was only because of this arranged marriage between the Hensons and the Sullivans, with the Hensons insisting on me specifically, that I finally got out of that house.

All I'd wanted was a quiet, steady life.

Instead, without ever really understanding how, I'd ended up sharing a bed with my husband's twin brother.

Now there was no washing myself clean of it, no matter what I did.

A mocking female voice came from behind me.

"I figured you'd be here with the crazy woman!"

I turned to look. It was Joanna Sullivan.

My half-sister.

She looked me up and down, her eyes full of contempt and envy.

"You're looking well. Guess life at the Henson place suits you just fine."

She gave a cold snort, her tone spiteful.

"If you hadn't gotten lucky and been the one the Hensons picked, marrying someone like Ezra Henson would never fall to a madwoman's daughter!"

All these years, facing their bullying, I'd swallowed everything.

I hadn't dared fight back, hadn't dared show even a flash of anything too strong.

I was afraid they'd seize on it to say I wasn't right in the head, and lock me away like my mother.

But not anymore. I wasn't going to take it.

I curled my lips and deliberately let the kiss marks hidden under my collar show.

"Ezra really does dote on me. Every night he can't keep his hands off me. If he found out you were humiliating his wife like this, how do you think he'd deal with the Sullivans?"

Joanna went instantly nervous and flustered, scrambling to explain.

"Don't go saying things like that. I never bullied you. I only came to pass along a message. Dad wants you to arrange a weekend dinner with the Hensons, and if you refuse, he'll cut off your mom's treatment money!"

With that, Joanna bolted.

The Sullivans were set on using me to climb their way close to the Hensons.

But everything I'd just said was a lie. The Hensons didn't care about me, and Ezra had never held me in his heart at all.

My mother's monthly care cost a fortune, and my father used it as leverage, so I didn't dare have it out with the Sullivans.

That evening, I brought up the idea of the two families having dinner together to Ezra.

I'd braced myself to be turned down, but to my surprise, he agreed.

On the weekend, the Sullivans were already seated in the private room early, waiting.

Along with Ezra came Carina Henson, who lived year-round at the old Henson estate.

I'd only seen Carina once, on my wedding day.

She was cool and sparing with words, unsmiling, an air of wealth about her that warned people to keep their distance.

Ezra's cold, aloof nature was cut from exactly the same cloth as hers.

I stepped forward and respectfully called her "Mom."

She gave a slight nod, and that was her answer.

At the table, the Sullivans kept fawning over Ezra and his mother.

Joanna came over with a glass to toast me, and deliberately spilled the drink down my chest.

She pretended to feel guilty, leaning in to wipe it, and used the chance to pull my collar open.

The kiss marks scattered across my collarbone, some dark, some faint, were exposed in front of everyone in an instant.