Page 114 of On the Double

“No. Because I was a disappointment.” The devastation on his face matched what I felt like inside on a daily basis. “She said I was just like him—the man she had the affair with. You were always so perfect, so much like Dad, and I was?—”

I stopped talking as my emotions overwhelmed me. I had been holding it in for so long, replaying their conversation in my head since the day I heard it.

“I must have made a noise because she was there, staring at me like I had ruined her life. Dad was…he was better with me. Kinder. But she made sure to tell me every chance she got how much I disappointed her—how I was just like him. That I had ruined everything.”

“Harper,” Oliver choked out. His hand covered mine and he squeezed tight. “Why the hell didn’t you tell me sooner?”

I looked at him through teary eyes and shook my head. “I was afraid,” I whispered. “What if you saw what she saw? I mean, I’ve dropped out of school and failed at nearly everything?—”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” he exploded. He wrenched me toward him, wrapping me in a hug. “Fucking hell, Harper. You are not a disappointment. You’re my sister and I love you, no matter what that bitch said.”

It was the first time I’d ever heard him say anything bad about Mom, and I didn’t like it, no matter how she’d treated me. “Don’t say that. You love her.”

“I could never love anyone who would be so horrible to you.” Hesqueezed me tighter, which only made the tears fall harder. He didn’t hate me. He didn’t even question what happened. He believed me, and more than that, he was on my side. I buried my face in his chest and held him tight.

“I don’t want you to hate her,” I mumbled. “It’s just…she’s clouded everything I’ve done. I always felt like a failure, and…I let her have this power over me that she shouldn’t have had.”

“What do you mean?”

I felt like a failure for even admitting it. “When I was in school…it was like her ghost followed me. I would hear her telling me what a failure I was. When I told you I dropped out of school because I wouldn’t be the first female Supreme Court justice…”

He quirked an eyebrow at me. “I never bought that.”

“It was because I thought I would fail. So, I made up an excuse to drop out so that I couldn’t prove her right.”

“And veterinary school?”

I nodded, feeling so ashamed of my actions. “It’s pathetic. I made excuses instead of proving her wrong. And then I proved to her what a loser I was by working at the fucking IGA and becoming the lost cause she always thought I was.”

“Stop it!” he snapped, his face filled with anger. “You will not talk about yourself that way.” He stood and paced in front of me, his hand shoving through his hair periodically before he turned to me with a scowl. “She’s dead. She can’t hurt you anymore, and you will not allow her to have this power over you. Do you hear me?” I nodded, but when he sat down beside me and took my hand in his, I knew he was about to lose his fucking shit. “No, Harper. This ends. Right fucking now. You will not let her control you for a minute longer.”

“Okay,” I nodded. Because he was right. It was time I let her go and lived my life for me.

“We’re selling this house.”

“What?”

“I’m not staying here a second longer than I have to. We’ll sell this place and buy something else, something better.”

“But this house is paid off. That would be a stupid move financially.”

“I don’t give a shit,” he snapped. “Fuck, I can’t even believe this was going on for all those years and I didn’t know about it.”

“She hid it from you. They both did. And so did I,” I added.

“Not anymore. No more secrets, Harper. Never again. We’re family and we’re all we’ve got. It’s just us, and I won’t allow anyone to ever treat you like shit again.”

I hugged him tight, keeping the tears at bay this time. There would be no more tears in my future over our parents. The time had come and gone to think of them. From now on, I was only going to think of myself and Oliver. And one other thing.

“I do have one more secret you don’t know about.”

“Fuck,” he muttered. “Tell me you don’t have a secret lover.”

I shook my head, biting my lip to hide my smile. “You know how I always said I wanted a cat?”

His eyes narrowed on me. “Harper…”

I grinned at him. “Surprise.”

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