Cole’s grip tightens on my wrist as he looks at Sheila.
“Our family took a hit the minute my father broughtyouin. Everybody knew that you were after his money. To this day, they call you the Black Widow behind your back, wondering how long before your second husband drops dead, just like your first,” he says. “Unfortunately for you, Sheila, we’re here. And you’ll have to contend with the three of us. You’re not getting away withit again.”
“I don’t know what you think I’m getting away with, Cole. I married your father out of love. It’s time to get over it. Nobody likes a sore loser,” she replies.
The words hit me like rocks on the head. “A sore loser?” I mumble.
Terrence lowers his gaze, a smirk testing the corners of his mouth. “You didn’t know?”
“Know what?”
“Terrence, don’t—” Cole tries to stop him, but it’s too late.
“Mom and Cole dated for a while before she met Dad.”
“Bill Morgan is not your father!” Toby snaps and gets up from his seat.
I, on the other hand, am stuck on what Terrence just said. “Wait… What? Sheila and Cole? When?”
Cole is about to get up and reach across the table to shut Terrence up for good, but Sheila shoots up first. I yank my hand from Cole’s grip at the same time. The confusion that follows brings a heavy, awkward silence to the table as I pull away, nausea unfurling in the back of my throat.
“Willow,” Cole starts to say, but I shake my head at him, then look at Toby and Asher. It’s written all over their faces. They knew, and they didn’t tell me.
“It’s true,” Sheila says, growing increasingly satisfied with my reaction. “Before I met Bill, the love of my life, I was with Cole. And it was good; it was really good while it lasted. It wasn’t my fault, though, that it didn’t work out.”
“This must be some kind of fever dream,” I mumble.
Asher gets up, but I take a few more steps back.
“Willow, hold on,” he tries to stop me.
I can’t be here another second. “It’s too much,” I say. “Too much.”
I register the smirk on Sheila’s face, a smug smile on Terrence’s. The conflicted look on Katrina as she watches me rush out of the dining room with tears in my eyes. I hear the Morgan brothers’ footsteps behind me, Cole’s voice rising like thunder against Sheila.
It’s too late.
The damage is already done.
17
WILLOW
Iwait outside on the manor’s steps for an Uber, courtesy of Ian, while I blink back tears and process the betrayal that eats through me like a disease. It’s cold, but I huddle under my coat and let the shivers stiffen me to the core because it’s the only way I can be at least partially numb to this heartache.
It looks so peaceful out here. Snow covers the ground and glitters in the trees surrounding the property. Above, the sky is a light grey. There’s a sun somewhere beyond those thick clouds. I can almost feel it on my face, trying to breach.
“Willow,” Cole says as he walks outside.
I look back and see him. His brothers stay inside, framed by the doorway but watching. “I don’t want to talk to you right now.”
“I completely understand,” he replies. “But wedohave to talk about this. You have to give me a chance to explain.”
“You never gave me a chance to hear the truth coming from you. What’s my incentive?”
“Willow, I’m sorry.”
My tears are getting harder and harder to control. One slips and rolls down my cheek, hot and salty, before it drips onto the stone edge of the step.
