Page 75 of Arrogant and Merciless

“Do you really want to find out what happened, regardless of whether the truth is worse than you imagine?”

“Nothing could be worse than what I imagine.”

“Remember the man I told you about? The one who helped me with Brooklyn’s problems, with some things from her past? He’s the same one who uncovered everything about mine as well,” he says.

“A detective?” I ask, because despite having mentioned this mysterious man before, he never gave me a name.

“No. A detective doesn’t have the reach that he does. But I’m sure that if he agrees to help you, you’ll find out the whole truth.”

“And why would he do that?”

“Because he’s like a modern-day avenger. And if Taylor didn’t leave you voluntarily—if someone took her—he’ll find out. But he doesn’t sugarcoat reality, William. No matter how ugly the truth is or who it might hurt, once he gets involved, he won’t stop until he gets to the bottom of it.”

“Who is he?”

“A friend of the Kostanidis family. Now, he’s my friend too.”

I run my hands over my face. “Yes, I want to know the truth.”

* * *

That Afternoon

“What exactly are you trying to tell me, William?”

“Nothing more than what I said, Grandma. I was with Taylor.”

“And thisbeingwith her means what exactly?”

“I love you, Maryann, and you’re the person I respect most in this world, but not even for you will I justify my personal life.”

“Then what’s the point of telling me this?” she asks, with her usual clarity.

“I’ve never hidden any part of my life from you, Grandma.”

“And Taylor is part of it.”

I get up and pace around the library—the same one she’s never stopped frequenting since the time Taylor used to work here. “I don’t know how to answer that.”

And it’s true. Because even if she isn’t pregnant, even if it turns out she was my father’s mistress and I keep hating her, I don’t think she’ll ever leave my mind.

“You don’t have to,” she says.

“Has she tried to talk to you since she came back?”

“She has, but I didn’t want her around. I liked her very much. Maybe I still do, but family is everything to me. I never liked your mother, and I never hid that, but she was my daughter-in-law. The divorce destroyed her.”

“Their marriage had been over for years, Grandma.”

“Are you defending Taylor?”

“No. But even if everything my father said was true—that they were lovers and planning to marry—he was the one who owed my mother loyalty, not his girlfriend.”

“I don’t like where this conversation is going, William.”

I look at her, unable to hide my disappointment. I admire her immensely, but it’s obvious she put the blame for my parents’ divorce entirely on Taylor.

“Good night, Maryann.”

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