“Why not just tell me the truth?” I asked quietly. “Why not beg for forgiveness like you said?”
“Because you are stubborn,” he said, almost sadly. “And after what I did to you, forgiveness would never come easily. I thought I needed to earn it. I bought back your childhood home. I secured the bakery for you. And I swore I would make those who destroyed our future pay.”
I let out a hollow laugh.
“Well, I will give you this. You planned it well. Should I applaud you for suddenly becoming my knight in shining armor, just as I discovered that nearly everyone I trusted was playing a role?” I shook my head. “Who else was involved, I wonder. The police? The restaurant owner? It is terrifying, realizing how much power you hold.”
I met his eyes, my voice steady but broken.
“You said you would punish everyone who hurt me. So answer this for me, Ashton. Who will punish you for breaking my trust and my heart?”
I exhaled slowly.
“Because from where I was sitting, you kept blaming everyone else. And yet all I ever needed was one person I could trust. One should have been enough.”
The words hung between us, heavy and unforgiving.
Ashton did not respond right away. His jaw tightened, then loosened, as if he were struggling to hold himself together. When he finally spoke, his voice was rough.
“I know,” he said quietly. “And I failed you.”
His shoulders sagged, the fight draining out of him all at once. The man who had spent years controlling outcomes and shaping plans suddenly looked exhausted by the weight of them.
“I thought I could fix everything by controlling the ending,” he continued. “By making sure you were safe. That you were provided for.” His gaze dropped to the table, shame etched into every line of his face. “I did not realize I was becoming exactly like him.”
The confession landed harder than anger ever could have.
“I lost you once because of his control,” he said, voice barely above a whisper. “And now I risk losing you again for the same reason.”
He finally looked up at me.
“And this time,” he added, “I have no one to blame but myself.”
Chapter 23
BAILEY
I was sitting at one of the tables in my bakery when Eva stepped inside, her familiar smile already in place. The moment she saw me, it faltered. She slowed, reading the accusation in my unsmiling face.
“Oh dear,” she said softly. “You already know.”
“Sit down, Eva,” I replied. My voice was steady, too steady. “Let us talk about what has been happening. The past few days. Or maybe months.”
She exhaled and took the chair across from me, her shoulders heavy.
“My mind had been spiraling,” I said. “I felt like my world was staged, like everyone around me was acting. Lies ruined my life once before. I could not survive them again.”
She winced. “This time it was a good lie. I know you will say that makes no difference. But it came from good intentions.”
“I was tired,” I said, my voice shaking despite my effort to keep it calm. “People I trusted kept hiding things from me. I was pushed from every direction. I had just cut ties with my father. I exposed my child to her father, who was now fighting for custody. And now I found out that even coming back here was part of a plan.”
I swallowed hard. “You used to tell me returning was a good thing. That I could fix what was broken and finally find closure. Now it felt like opening a tin of worms. What was broken would never heal. It only cracked wider and bled.”
Eva’s face crumpled. She reached across the table and grabbed my hand. Instinctively, I wanted to pull away. I did not need comfort from her, not now. After the lie, she was no longer in a position to be my friend.
No wonder she had kept urging me to think carefully before selling the bakery. She had been buying time, trying to anchor me here until I changed my mind. I would not have been surprised if she was the one who posted the job vacancy, the reason strangers suddenly walked in asking for work.
“I am so sorry, Bailey,” she said quietly. “I never meant to hurt you. I did not think about your feelings when I agreed to help Ashton. At the time, I believed it was what Marie wanted. As her friend, I would have done anything to fulfill her wishes.”
