Chapter 10 - WHY ETHAN PROPOSED
I did not ask Ethan until we were inside the police station.
My father was being questioned.
My mother was giving a statement.
Thomas was speaking with federal investigators.
I sat across from the man I had almost married.
“Why did you propose?”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“At first?”
That was already the wrong answer.
“At first.”
“To get close to Richard.”
I nodded slowly.
“How romantic.”
“Sarah—”
“How long?”
“I met you at the museum fundraiser because I knew he’d be there.”
“So I was access.”
“At first.”
I stood.
He stood too.
“Don’t.”
He stopped.
I felt strangely calm.
“Did you know my mother was Diane?”
“No.”
“Did you know Richard was Samuel Mercer?”
“I suspected six months ago.”
“And you still planned the wedding.”
“I loved you.”
“You investigated my family while sleeping beside me.”
“Yes.”
“You secretly met my mother.”
“Yes.”
“You kissed her.”
“She kissed me.”
“Do not become technical right now.”
He shut his mouth.
I removed my engagement ring.
His face broke.
“Sarah.”
I placed it on the table.
“I believe you love me.”
Hope flashed in his eyes.
“That’s almost worse.”
He looked down.
“I don’t know what part of us was real.”
“All of it became real.”
“But it didn’t start that way.”
“No.”
I walked toward the door.
He said, “The night I proposed, I had already decided to stop investigating.”
I stopped.
“Then why didn’t you?”
“Because your father sent someone to break into my apartment the next morning.”
I turned.
Ethan pulled out his phone.
He showed me a photograph.
A man entering his building.
I recognized him.
He had been sitting three rows behind my father at the wedding.
Uncle Peter.
My mother’s brother.
Ethan said, “Your family secret has another layer.”
My stomach sank.
“Peter works for Richard.”
“No.”
Ethan zoomed in on the photograph.
Peter was carrying the same silver sailboat symbol.
“He doesn’t work for Richard.”
May you like
Ethan looked at me.
“He owns half of what Richard built.”
