Page 62 of North

Could I?

I hesitated.

If I left now, it would mean cutting ties. It would mean turning my back on everything, on the life I had spent years trying to fix, trying to endure.

And maybe… maybe I wasn’t ready to do that yet.

“I don’t know,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. It was stupid to even think about, but what if I could find a way to save Dad’s reputation without giving up what really happened? Now that I knew the story, now that it had been confirmed that I wasn’t wrong in believing he was innocent, I wanted the rest of the world to know it too.

It had nothing to do with what happened to Aiden, or what he’d been hiding. And it had nothing to do with North and his friends. I just wanted to make sure the world knew my father wasn’t a murderer.

Evie studied me for a long moment before nodding, like she understood, like she wasn’t going to force me into anything.

But then she turned to Mark and for a minute it looked like something inside her broke.

“You told me Robert was a monster,” she said, her voice shaking. “That he was the reason Lila died. You made me hate him, Dad. You made me hate an entire family because of something you were a part of. Why? What did he have over you that made you do that?”

Mark lifted his head slowly, his expression heavy. His answer didn’t change. “I did it to protect this family. To protect all of you.”

Evie let out a hollow, humorless laugh.

“Bullshit,” she spat. “That’s fucking bullshit. Tell me the truth.”

Mark looked at her, his lips parting like he wanted to say something, but the words didn’t come. And suddenly, I realized—he wasn’t going to tell her. He wasn’t going to give her the truth. Because the truth was ugly. The truth would ruin him. And Mark had spent his entire life making sure his image, his reputation, stayed intact.

Evie’s breathing was ragged. She turned to Lauren then, her voice colder now, sharper. “You knew, didn’t you?”

Mom’s lips pressed together, her shoulders tensing.

Evie’s voice cracked. “Tell me. Someone fucking tell me why you covered up the details of the accident. Why Mom left.” She was begging now, and my heart ached in sympathy.

Mom flinched. And then she whispered, “She isn’t your mother.”

The room went still. My stomach twisted as Evie’s face paled. “What?”

Mark exhaled heavily, rubbing his temples before looking at her. “Julianne isn’t your mother, Evie,” he said, his voice rough. “Lauren is.”

The silence that followed was deafening. I felt like I had been punched in the chest. Evie looked frozen. Her fingers curled around the strap of her bag like she needed something to hold on to.

And then, just like that, it all made sense.

My mother’s obsession with Evie. The way she doted on her. The way she loved her in a way she never loved me. She married Mark to stay close to her. It was never about me. It had never been about me.

I felt something in my chest crack, something deep, something I didn’t think could be fixed.

Evie’s voice came out broken. “You’re lying.”

Lauren took a shaky breath. “I’m not.”

Mark didn’t say anything, because it was the truth and he knew it.

Evie let out a sharp, ragged breath, shaking her head as she turned for the door.

I watched her go, my feet rooted to the floor. A part of me wanted to stop her. I wanted to tell her not to leave. But I didn’t. Because what was I supposed to say?

I watched as she opened the door, and stepped outside. And then she was gone, and I couldn’t help but feel like I should run after her. Instead, I stood there, my fingers trembling, my heart heavy in my chest.

I turned to look at Mark, at Lauren, at North. None of them were looking at me. None of them had even noticed. And that told me everything I needed to know. I was done waiting for someone to care.

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