He didn’t understand why Nina had found them. She hadn’t looked for the child in all these years, hadn’t asked about her life. And now suddenly she was digging. Why?
The answer was obvious: revenge.
He concluded she wanted to destroy what he had.
And the most terrifying part—she could.
He knew his daughter. Lynn was stubborn, honest, blunt. She didn’t understand shades of gray. For her, everything was black or white. If she learned the truth, if she realized what kind of man her father had been… he’d lose her.
That terrified him more than anything else. He didn’t care if Nina hated him or wanted to ruin his reputation. She had every right. He’d earned that hatred. Back then he’d paid no price for what he’d done—maybe now was the time.
But Lynn could never learn the truth about how she was conceived. She could never know that the story about her mother dying in childbirth was a lie he created. She could never know that she’d been abandoned for two whole years.
He wouldn’t allow it.
If he had to buy Nina’s silence, he would.
If she wanted a divorce from Frank Osborne, perfect—he’d arrange it, even cover her legal fees.
If she wanted to crush her ex—better yet, he’d help.
As long as she stayed away from his family.
As long as, under no circumstances, she ever told Lynn who she really was.
CHAPTER 27
Her phone rang just as she was once again trying to convince herself not to spiral. Everything passes. Even this. She reached for it without looking at the screen.
“Yeah?”
“Nina, hi!”Stella’s voice was bright as always, as if she’d never had a single problem in her life.“Where have you been? We were starting to lose you!”
“I kind of dropped out of life for a bit,” she admitted, sitting up on the bed and pushing her hair back.“But I’m alive. These past few weeks have been… rough.”
“Oh, I get it,”Stella softened.“But I’ve got great news. We’ve got a big event coming up!”
“What kind?”
“A charity gala,” she announced cheerfully.“For the kids’fund—we’re raising donations, you know how it goes. There’ll be lots of people, sponsors, partners, journalists…”
Nina heard Stella saying something to someone in the background before returning to her:
“You’ll be there, right? You’ve supported that children’s center for years.”
Nina hesitated.
Before… she’d never have missed something like that. Charity events had been part of her life. And now? She’d withdrawn from everything, shut herself off, faded out of her old world.
But she couldn’t show that. She needed to show she was fine. That she’d handled it. Because in this city there were far too many people who must not see her broken.
“Of course I’ll be there,” she said firmly.
“Perfect!”Stella beamed.“It’s going to be a gorgeous night.”
They hung up. Nina set the phone on the nightstand. A deep breath.
A charity gala.
