Chapter 2 - THE RACE TO THE HOSPITAL
Ethan drove faster than he had in years.
Lucy sat in the passenger seat wrapped in his suit jacket, clutching the envelope against her stomach.
Rain hammered the windshield.
“Seat belt.”
Lucy pulled it tighter.
Ethan glanced at her.
“You came here alone?”
She nodded.
“How?”
“Bus.”
“In this storm?”
“My neighbor gave me twenty dollars.”
Ethan gripped the steering wheel.
“How did you know where the wedding was?”
“Mom had a newspaper clipping.”
“What clipping?”
Lucy opened the envelope and removed a folded page.
The society section showed Ethan and Victoria smiling beneath a headline announcing their wedding date.
Olivia had circled the date in red ink.
Underneath it, she had written three words.
Tell him everything.
Ethan's throat tightened.
“Why didn't your mom tell me herself?”
“She tried.”
Lucy looked out the window.
“Lots of times.”
Ethan almost missed the next light.
“What do you mean?”
“She wrote letters.”
“To me?”
“Yes.”
“How many?”
“I don't know.”
Lucy stared down at her hands.
“She kept copies.”
Ethan could barely breathe.
“I never received them.”
“I know.”
“How?”
“Because Mom said someone always found out.”
“Who?”
Lucy looked at him.
“Victoria.”
The name felt poisonous now.
Ethan forced himself to remain calm.
“What exactly did Olivia tell you?”
“Not everything.”
“Why not?”
“Because she thought I was too young.”
Lucy wiped rainwater from her forehead.
“She said she made a terrible choice before I was born.”
Ethan said nothing.
“She said she was scared.”
“Of Victoria?”
Lucy nodded.
“And somebody else.”
“Who?”
“I don't know.”
That bothered him more than anything.
Twenty minutes later, Ethan's phone began vibrating.
His father.
His sister.
His best man.
Three unknown numbers.
Victoria.
He ignored them all.
Then another call appeared.
MASON REED.
Ethan answered.
Mason had been his attorney and closest friend since college.
“I just heard.”
“Meet me at St. Matthew's.”
“What happened?”
“I need you to preserve every piece of financial evidence connected to Victoria Hale.”
Silence.
Then Mason's voice changed.
“What kind of evidence?”
“Checks.”
“For what?”
“Keeping my daughter hidden from me.”
Mason didn't ask another question.
“I'm on my way.”
Lucy turned sharply.
“You believe I'm your daughter?”
Ethan looked at her.
“I believe we need the truth.”
Her face fell slightly.
He regretted the words immediately.
He pulled into the hospital entrance and stopped beneath the emergency awning.
Then he turned toward her.
“Lucy.”
She looked at him.
“I didn't mean that the way it sounded.”
She waited.
“I don't know what was done to your mother.”
His voice became quieter.
“But if she was forced to lie to me, none of this is your fault.”
Lucy blinked hard.
“And if I am your father, I should have been there.”
A tear finally escaped down her cheek.
“I used to ask why you didn't want me.”
Ethan closed his eyes for one second.
Then opened them.
“I didn't know you existed.”
Lucy nodded.
“I know that now.”
They entered the hospital together.
A nurse at the front desk immediately recognized Lucy.
“Lucy Bennett?”
“Yes.”
The nurse's expression changed when she saw Ethan.
“She's been asking for you.”
Ethan stopped.
“Olivia?”
The nurse nodded.
“She became conscious about fifteen minutes ago.”
Ethan followed Lucy down the corridor.
Every step felt like walking backward through twelve years of his life.
Room 417 stood at the end of the hall.
Lucy opened the door first.
Ethan saw the hospital bed.
The machines.
The oxygen line.
Then he saw Olivia.
She looked impossibly small.
Her dark hair was shorter than he remembered.
Her face was thin.
Her skin nearly translucent.
But when her eyes moved toward the doorway, Ethan recognized her instantly.
Olivia Bennett.
The woman he had once planned to marry.
The woman he had believed betrayed him.
The woman who had apparently spent eleven years trying to reach him.
Her gaze moved from Lucy to Ethan.
Then she began to cry.
“You came.”
Ethan stepped into the room.
“Olivia.”
She raised one shaking hand.
“I'm sorry.”
He walked closer.
“No.”
Her eyes widened.
“Ethan, I need to tell you.”
“You will.”
“You have to know before she finds a way to stop me.”
“Victoria?”
Olivia slowly shook her head.
“No.”
Ethan froze.
May you like
Olivia's frightened eyes moved toward the closed hospital door.
“Victoria didn't do this alone.”
