Page 134 of My Favorite Secret
Now that marriage and a child are part of the equation, Harper is convinced she can only be with me, but I’d hoped the three of us could have found a way to still be together.
I kick the side of the house with rage. This is all a fucking shitshow. From the moment Felix was taken toWestbridge, my life has been hurdling out of control. I feel like I’ve constantly been placed in impossible positions. All I wanted was to keep everyone safe and provide stability for Harper. But no matter what I do, someone ends up bleeding for it.
I watch Felix walk toward the front of the property, never having seen him so devastated. Not even when Clara died. Not the night he was dragged off to Westbridge.
It kills me to see him like this.
“Felix,” I call out.
“Fuck off, Tyler!”
“We need to talk.”
“All I need is for you to get the fuck away from me.”
His anger feels like a knife twisting in my chest. I’m desperate to run after my brother and say something,anythingto make this right. I want to tell him I’m sorry and beg him to believe me. Beg him not to leave so we can work this out because Ineedhim. Ineedthe three of us to exist.
But I know anything I say right now will push him further away.
With my brother out of sight, I wait by the maze entrance for Harper. All of my muscles clench with dread. Will she hate me? What if she never looks at me the same way again? I can’t bear the thought. I have so much explaining to do.
When twenty minutes pass and Harper still hasn’t exited the maze, I go in to find her. After countless minutes of running the pathways, panicking as I call her name only to be met with silence, I find her in a heap on the ground, staring at the sky with tears rolling down her face.
My eyes sting as I drop to my knees at her side. “I’m beside myself with guilt, Harper. I was trying to protect you. I didn’t want you covering up a murder. I thought Icould hold all three of us together until Felix returned. Please, baby.Please, don’t hate me.”
Her head tilts in my direction. I take her hands in mine, helping her sit up. “I’m angry at you but I don’t hate you,” she murmurs lifelessly. “I understand why you didn’t tell me.”
She may not hate me, but something’s changed. There’s a massive crack in the foundation of what we had.
Resentment.
Her face crumbles. “He was so upset, Tyler. Heartbroken. I don’t think he’ll speak to me ever again.”
I want to comfort Harper and tell her she’s wrong. That Felix just needs time. But I’m not sure it’s the truth.
I fear I’ve lost Felix for good. I’m afraid Harper has too.
She sniffles. “Felix said he wrote me letters when he was at Westbridge. I never received them. Please tell me you didn’t keep them from me?—”
“Harper, no, of course I didn’t.”
She’s trusted me forever. Now she doubts me and it tears me to pieces.
“Maybe my father—” Harper stops herself, shaking her head. “No, he wouldn’t keep the letters from me. He doesn’t like Felix but he wouldn’t—” She goes silent, her brows drawing together with anger. “Tyler, take me home, please. I need to find those letters.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE
HARPER
It’s early evening when Tyler and I pull up in front of my apartment. We’ve barely spoken a word to each other throughout the drive from the beach. All I can do is think about Felix and how much I’ve hurt him.
“Are you sure I can’t come inside and help you search for the letters?” Tyler asks from the driver’s seat.
“I want to do this on my own.”
Dad says Tyler isn’t welcome in our home. I thought he would be somewhat pleased when I accepted Tyler’s marriage proposal shortly after discovering I was pregnant, but he just looked at me like it was one hassle ticked off his to-do list.
My father hasn’t told a soul about the engagement. No one knows other than Josh and now Felix. Tyler and I, along with the baby, are a secret my dad is trying to hide from the world until the last second possible. In his eyes, I’m a letdown. He always boasted to his friends and colleagues about how I was the perfect daughter who showed so much promise. He loved showing me off and telling everyone I would be a prima ballerina.
