His breath caught. “I don’t even know where to start.”
Marie smiled then, not unkindly. She always knew. She had always known he was drowning in guilt.
“That’s what I want to tell you,” she said. “You’ll begin after I leave this world.”
Ashton stared at her.
She looked peaceful now, relieved, as if the weight she had carried for years was finally lifting. She reached out and took his hand, patting it gently.
For a moment, Ashton was pulled back in time. To afternoons spent in her bakery. To laughter. To warm pies shared with Bailey at a corner table. To a life that felt whole.
It had been the best time of his life.
And only now did he realize how much he had lost.
Chapter 17
ASHTON
After meeting Marie and hearing her plan, Ashton found himself haunted by a single, terrifying question.
What if he was wrong all along?
The thought wrapped around his chest like a vice. He hated it. He had lived with this doubt since the day everything fell apart, pushing it down, refusing to name it. But Marie’s words had torn it back open. Now it would not leave him alone.
He wanted to face Bailey one last time.
But she was gone.
She had left town with her mother without a word, and the anger surged back like fresh fire. If she had been innocent, why run? Why disappear instead of standing on her ground? If she had been guilty, she should have admitted it, begged for forgiveness, taken responsibility. Instead, she vanished, leaving him alone with rumors, assumptions, and a silence that poisoned everything it touched.
His phone rang.
He glanced at the screen and turned it face down.
He knew who it was. His fiancée. She had been calling nonstop since he left Brookvale after getting Chase’s address from his mother. He had told no one where he was going. He did not trust himself to explain it yet.
Since discovering Bailey’s supposed betrayal, Ashton had confronted Chase once before. Chase had admitted to the affair—or at least, that was how Ashton remembered it. Rage hadtaken over. He punched him until his knuckles split, until Chase fell. Then Chase disappeared from town entirely.
Ashton assumed he was doing what he always did—partying, drinking, wasting his family’s money in different cities, untouched by consequences.
He was wrong.
After hours of driving, Ashton reached the remote town where Chase’s family owned a sprawling estate. His mother had told him Chase had been staying there after an accident. Illegal racing. A GTI spinning out of control. A collision so violent the other driver died instantly, trapped in flames.
Chase survived.
Barely.
Ashton had not asked about the extent of his injuries. He had not cared. When his aunt begged him to visit Chase in the hospital, he refused. Cousin or not, he wanted nothing to do with him.
But now, if he wanted the truth, this was where he had to begin.
The property was isolated, surrounded by vast, empty land. Chase lived there alone, with only a handful of staff. His parents rarely visited, too busy traveling, too detached to deal with the wreckage of their son.
When Ashton gave his name at the door, the staff ushered him inside without question. They led him to the library, explaining that Chase spent most of his time there.
The door opened.
