Page 36 of Secrets (The Sins Trilogy 2)
But why does this Korean woman care? She doesn’t think she can fly all the way out here and get an introduction to Ryder, does she? A lot of women get stupid about him—his looks and Hollywood fame have that effect. Still, I put on a friendly smile. Offending the youngest child of the head of the Hae Min Group wouldn’t be a smart move. She might not be in management, but I’ve heard rumors that her father overindulges her. “I’m not sure how that’s a concern for you.”
“It isn’t. A concern, I mean. I want to know about the young woman who got wine all over her.”
“Ah,” I say to buy myself some time, my facial muscles like plastic. For a fraction of a second, I wonder if her visit has anything to do with Sam, but Peacher & Son is beneath the notice of an entity like the Hae Min Group.
Is she somehow related to Iris’s accident? But Sam implied that whoever hurt me and Ivy in the past is someone in our inner circle. I don’t know this woman at all. I wait for Yuna to continue, unwilling to respond one way or the other until I know exactly what her motive is.
“She looks like someone I used to know. Everyone said she died, but I couldn’t believe it. I still don’t believe it. My men tracked down someone who is supposedly her uncle, but he was rude and refused to help when I went to talk to him last week. He said I was wrong, but wouldn’t tell me how to find her. I simply want to see her for myself. Unfortunately, she doesn’t have an address in the city that I could track, and I’m too impatient to wait on a private investigator. It’s been almost ten years.”
“Just who do you think she is?” I ask, my mouth dry.
“My best friend from Curtis. Ivy Smith.”
The impact of those seven words leaves me breathless. This is the girl who exchanged piano videos with Ivy, showing off their progress and egging each other on! “Watch and weep,” I whisper.
Yuna’s face lights up. “Yes! She’s alive, isn’t she? She was in the video with you, right? You’re that middle cousin she was crazy about. I’m the one who suggested a tattoo as a way to show you she loved you.”
How the hell…?I put up a hand to slow her down, my brain working to put the pieces together, trying to figure out what to say and how much to reveal. But in the end, I decide she doesn’t mean any harm. She knows things that nobody else would know, which means Iris trusted her. And she cared enough to come all the way here herself instead of waiting for a secondhand report. “You don’t think she died?”
“No. Do you believe in soul siblings?”
What?“How can an only child have a sib— I’m not following you.”
“Not that kind of sole. Americans only believe in soul mates because they obsess so much about romantic love. But that’s not all there is. Ivy is my soul sister. There’s no one else who got me like her or cheered me on to be the best I could be. I did the same for her.” Her hands curl into white-knuckled fists on the armrests. “I would’ve known deep in my heart if she really died. It would’ve left a huge, gaping hole that could never have been filled by anyone else.” She looks away, blinking to erase the glint of tears.
Her pain is genuine, and I can sympathize. My life was hell without Iris, but I’m afraid what Yuna’s presence is going to do to her memory and safety.
Iris is undoubtedly going to probe, and Yuna is going to tell her everything she can. Then Iris will know I’ve been lying to her. Her name and her true identity… She might even figure out that I’m responsible for the foundation hiring her. If I’m lucky, she’ll be upset. The more likely outcome is her hating me, realizing I’m not worth anything after all.
Then there’s Sam. Yuna said she met with him last week, and he refused to help her even though he has to know what she could do for him in return. The Hae Min Group is filthy rich, and it could introduce him to the most elite and exclusive echelons in Asia and North America. But instead of capitalizing on that, Sam tried to make Iris leave…and, when that failed, tried to drown her. I can’t even imagine how far he’ll go if he knows Yuna and Iris met, and Iris remembers more than just the girl in the water.
A selfish, desperate part of me says lie to Yuna. Meeting her might make Iris remember…and realize I’m a fucking bastard who deserves nothing. But I’ve already been committing enough sins by lying to Iris. Do I want to compound it by lying about Yuna too, when Iris has so few friends she can trust?
Iris’s wellbeing always comes first.
“There’s something you need to know,” I say. “She’s alive—”
Yuna jumps to her feet. “I knew it! Where is she?”
“Calm down. You can’t see her yet.”
She arches an eyebrow. “I can’t? Why not?”
Clearly this is a woman who’s used to getting her way. “Please sit down. I need to explain a few things.”
She reclaims her seat and watches me, her gaze calculating.
I meet her stare squarely. She’s probably wondering what she has to do to make me come clean. It’s obvious she loves Iris, and she’ll do everything in her power to keep her safe, just like me. Those tears earlier were raw and real, and she could be a valuable ally. But for that to work, I have to trust her and get her to agree to my terms. “She doesn’t remember me,” I begin carefully. “She probably doesn’t remember you. She hasn’t mentioned you once since she and I got together again.”
“Impossible!”
“At that time…everyone thought she died. But she didn’t. She had a serious head trauma that put her into a coma for a year. Since then, she’s been suffering from partial amnesia.”
“Why did you hide the fact that she’s alive?”
I don’t like her accusation. But if the situation were reversed, I might throw a punch first, then ask the question. “I didn’t. I had no clue until not too long ago,” I say. “There was a body nine years ago, one that everyone thought was her. The police called it a hit-and-run, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t an accident. Based on what I’ve learned, somebody went through a great deal of trouble to hide her. She was more or less forced to travel the world after she woke up and recovered enough to leave the hospital and not need therapy anymore.”
Yuna pales. “You’re saying somebody tried to kill her.”
