Page 165 of Temporary Vows

A tremor shoots through my heart, then I go numb.

He takes my hand and we go back to the sofa to sit. My body finds a moment of reprieve in the softness, but the tension returns the instant I stare into Dorian’s piercing blue eyes.

“Your family business went under because of Jack. He embezzled the money, siphoning all the profit and client investments.”

Everything in me locks down tight, like clamps are sealing shut over my organs. “What are you saying to me? Jack. He…”

“He got mixed up with the wrong people,” he breathes. “At first, I didn’t know how bad it was. He was gambling and then he got out of control. I tried to stop him but he wouldn’t listen to me. Then it got worse when he started losing and gambling what he didn’t have. Then he began owing the wrong people. By then your dad was really sick and it was clear he was going to die.” He pauses and a few seconds pass before he continues. “Your father suspected Jack was up to no good so he removed Jack as your executor from your trust fund and put the money in my care.”

“My father did that?” I gasp.

“It was the only thing he could do to protect your future. Make sure you could go to college and have your dream tobecome a teacher. I wanted that for you too, so I promised I would look after it.”

“Oh God.” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“After your father passed, the business went under. It was too late then. Jack had taken everything too far, and unless you got a big lump sum, nothing could save the business. To save himself though, Jack pinned everything on your father. You can’t take a dead man to court, so everything was wrapped up. And the only people who knew the truth kept quiet, out of respect for you and your father.”

A tear drops onto my lap. “You. You knew?”

“Yes, me. But my brothers came to know about it, too, because Jack went crazy trying to demand our help. Then I had to involve my father. I wanted to help Elodie, but if I had, our company would have been implicated in the investigation. There was no way we couldn’t look like we were trying to cover up what Jack did.” He swallows hard. “What was worse was, years before our company had already come out of a big scandal that nearly ruined us. The best thing to do was stay out of it.”

I keep my eyes on him, watching his expression soften as he relays the truth. A truth I never knew existed, and ran so deep.

“The last time I saw Jack…” he mutters. “He came to demand the money your father wanted me to set aside for you. We stopped being friends because I refused to give it to him, and made it hard for him to even try to get it. I had it secured so the funds would release when you needed it. And you’d never know I had any involvement in it.”

I can’t look away from him. I can hardly blink. Everything I thought I knew was a lie.

That money took me right through college and only finished months ago when I had to use it to pay the loan.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I say, my voice rough with emotion.

He shakes his head. “Jack was your world. Your everything. I didn’t want to spoil that for you. Especially when I knew your father wasn’t exactly the best with your mother.”

The affairs. He knew about that from back then.

“You helped all along, making sure I was okay and got my future.”

He nods curtly. “Yeah.”

Fresh tears come and he pulls me into his chest.

“Thank you, Dorian.”

“You don’t have to thank me.”

“I do. I truly do.” I lean into his chest.

I had it all wrong. So very wrong.

Jack wasn’t who I thought he was.

And Dorian was never the villain.

The villain was always my brother.

Jack.

Chapter 37