Page 118 of Marry Lies
When she’s a foot away, she looks up at me with an open expression. “I’ll never know what, Miles?”
I am fucked.
So utterly, completely fucked.
I lean my elbows on the island, head still hanging between my shoulders. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
She stands up straighter, and I notice, for the first time, her ability to seem distant and cold.
Please don’t hate me.
Please don’t push me away after this.
“Go on, then,” she says, jaw tight.
“My father is not a good man,” I start, and her eyes widen in surprise. “Your father’s money is gone. The million dollars? It’s gone.”
She just stares at me. “I’m confused. At what point in the last day, or the last week, even, made you think I was still doing this for the money?”
Her words are like a dagger to my heart.
“I’m trying to tell you that the money is gone,” I try, hoping she lets me explain what an asshole I am. Hoping that she sees I’m not worth fighting for. Better to pull the Band-Aid off now than in eleven months.
“And I’m trying to tell you that I don’t care,” she hisses, shoving me. “Seriously? After everything tonight…the beach, the restaurant…I don’t care about the money.”
My brows furrow. “But what about VeRue—”
“I’ll figure it out. I just don’t want you to think that I’m not going to hold up my end of the deal just because the money is gone. And not because I have to.” She takes a step closer, and I swallow thickly. “But because Iwantto.”
“Estelle,” I beg, holding a hand out.
“Wait,” she says slowly, looking up at me. “I received the first payment.”
Steepling my hands, I take a step back. “Because I transferred the money. I forged my father’s signature and presented you with a fake contract.”
Her mouth drops open. “He was never going to pay me?”
“I tried warning you,” I explain, reaching out for her.
She moves away from me. Now she’s the one holding a hand out to stop me. “Were you ever going to tell me?” she whispers.
I hesitate, my mouth opening and closing.
A few seconds later, I answer her. “Trust me, it’s been eating me alive for a long time. It’s why I did the installments. I wanted to take care of you. I wanted you to use that money. Even if it didn’t come from my father, I wanted to make sure you were financially secure. And I’ll reimburse your father as soon as I talk to mine. As soon as I know what happened—”
“Did the two of you work together?” she asks, her jaw feathering as she crosses her arms.
“What? No, Estelle—”
“Charles sought my father out,” she says slowly. “It was right after we met at the fountain.”
I shake my head. “No. That was a coincidence.”
Narrowing her eyes, I can see how the crease between her eyes deepens, how her eyes start to water.
“Are you sure? Because it sounds like too much of a coincidence to me. Like maybe you hatched a plan,” she says, her voice wrought with emotion. “What, did you plan to take advantage of the philanthropist and his struggling daughter? Was it all a long con, Miles? Marry his son, get her to fall in love with him so she didn’t notice the money went missing—” I rush forward, but she holds her hands out to stop me. “Don’t touch me.”
“I did the fucking installments so you would stay,” I tell her, my voice breaking on the last word. “Because I was so fucking in love with you, and I didn’t even realize it.”
