Page 66 of It Will Always Be You
“Gathering evidence.” His voice is rough, and when he drags his hands through his hair, I notice the tremor in them. Whatever they found, it’s bad.
Brennan hands me a few sheets of paper—printed emails, records, things I’d hoped we’d never see. I scan them. Once. Twice. A third time, hoping they’ll change. They don’t.
“You’re shitting me.”
“Wish I was,” Bren sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “She knew, Johnny. There’s no way shedidn’tknow what Jen was involved in. And even if that didn’t seal her fate, this will.”
“Christ,” I mutter, reading the email from Jen to Benedict.
This isn’t just messy. This is a nuclear-level fuck-up. I pass the pages to Declan, watching as his jaw tightens while he reads. No matter how we spin this—no matter what we do someone is going to be left feeling hurt and betrayed.
“Tell me we at least have a body to bury,” I mutter. Declan curses under his breath. The rest of the room goes still. I look to Brennan. He shakes his head.
“Fuck.”
“You have to bejoking,” Cora snaps. “No. No way. This isLilywe’re talking about!”
The fire in her voice doesn’t surprise me. If anything, it hurts more. Because I know what I’m about to do is going to feel like betrayal. But what choice do I have?
“I know it’s hard,” Helen says gently, stepping in to try and soften the blow. “But I’m sure your dad has a plan. He wouldn’t do this without one.”
Right. Aplan.
“You said it yourself,” I tell Cora. “Before the wedding. She wanted to study abroad. She wanted to go—”
“Don’t,” Cora cuts in, her voice trembling. “Don’t twist that into something it’s not.”
I sigh and scrub a hand over my face. “Listen. There’s solid evidence sheknew, Cora. That she kept quiet. And there’s the birth certificate—Benedict listed as her father.”
She flinches like I hit her.
“So we just cut her off? Exile her?” she whispers.
“It’s the best option we have,” I say. “She’s safe. She’s getting what she wanted, and this buys us time. Enough time to find the truth. But she can’t stay here. Not with the men whispering, not with Matt ready to explode, and definitely not with Ciaran seeing red every time her name comes up.”
I watch my daughter fight to keep herself together. Her jaw trembles, but she refuses to let the tears fall.
“When it comes out she was innocent…” she whispers, voice breaking.
“If she is,” I say softly, “we’ll make it right.”
I cross the room and kneel in front of her, resting my hand gentlyover hers. “Ipromiseyou—I will find who’s behind this. And when I do, they won’t walk away.”
Across the room, Helen nods. Her eyes meet mine, and the fire burning behind them is the same one that’s been driving me for weeks now.
We’re hunting this truth together.
And we won’t stop until we drag it into the light—no matter how many heads we have to cut off to do it.
Epilogue
Walking through the glass doors of O’Neill’s HQ is like slipping back in time. The minute they close behind me, the outside world fades. Gone is the chaos, the heartbreak, the bloodshed. In here, there’s only polished floors, sharp suits, and the thrill of walking familiar halls with new purpose.
For the next hour or so, I’m not a survivor, a mother, or a woman piecing herself back together. I’m an assistant again—and Mr. O’Neill expects nothing but first-class service.
As I bypass the reception desk and head straight for the private lift, anticipation coils hot and tight in my belly. I tug at the hem of my skirt, suddenly hyper-aware of how short it is, how bare I am beneath it.
The lift climbs, slow and steady, every passing floor tightening my pulse.
