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"Let me understand the scope of exposure," I said, falling back on professional instincts. "We have two secret relationships involving the same family, both with significant professional and social ramifications. Multiple parties now aware of at least partial information. And a matriarch who specializes in destroying threats to family reputation."
"Now we acknowledge that we're all keeping secrets that can't stay hidden much longer," James said grimly. "Your Mother is already asking questions about everyone's changed behavior. These kinds of complex deceptions create patterns that observant people eventually notice."
"How long do you think we have?" I asked.
"Days," James said without hesitation. "Maybe less. We're all acting like people with something to hide, and eventually someone is going to put the pieces together."
"So we're all compromised."
"Completely." James's expression was grim. "The house of cards is about to collapse, Edward. The only question is whether we bring it down on our own terms or let it fall on us."
I looked at my sister, at my best friend, at the impossible situation we'd all created through our choices. Despite mydisapproval, despite my concerns about the complications ahead, I felt a strange sense of inevitability.
"Then I suppose," I said finally, "we'd better decide how we want to handle the truth when it comes out."
"Because one way or another, it's going to come out," I continued, looking between my sister and my best friend. "And when it does, we'll discover whether love really is stronger than legacy, or whether we've all been fooling ourselves about what we're willing to sacrifice for happiness."
The truth was coming. And when it did, all of our lives would change forever.
CHAPTER 14
Lili
"Lili, I need to tell you something. About why I really invited you to stay here."
Daphne's voice was tight with nervous energy as she found me in the conservatory, where I'd been hiding since Edward's cryptic warning about being watched.
I'd been debating whether to pack my bags and leave immediately, but something held me back—maybe the stubborn part of me that refused to be driven out before I understood what was really happening.
"Daphne." I set down the book I'd been pretending to read, noting how she was wringing her hands—a nervous habit I'd never seen from her before. The humid air in the conservatory felt oppressive, the scent of tropical flowers becoming cloying as tension filled the space. She looked like someone about to confess a terrible sin.
"What do you mean? You invited me because we're friends. Because you wanted me to experience England."
"I couldn't sleep last night," Daphne said, moving restlessly around the conservatory like a caged animal. "I kept seeing your face after Mother's attack, the way you looked so completely blindsided. And I realized that your shock wasn't just about theacquisition—it was about discovering that everyone you trusted had been lying to you."
"What do you mean?"
"I told myself I was helping everyone find happiness. That if Edward found love with you, maybe the family would be more accepting of unconventional relationships in general. But really..." Her voice broke slightly. "Really, I was just a coward who needed someone else to take the heat while I lived my secret life. That's... that's not entirely true."
She moved closer, settling into the wicker chair across from me with the careful precision of someone afraid of breaking something fragile. "I did want you here, but there were other reasons. Selfish reasons."
Something cold settled in my stomach. "What kind of selfish reasons?"
Daphne took a shaky breath, her composure cracking like fine china under pressure. "When I invited you to stay at the manor, I wasn't just being a good friend. I was hoping... I needed you to be a distraction."
"A distraction from what?"
"From me. From what I was doing." Her voice dropped to barely above a whisper. "I've been seeing someone, Lili. Someone the family would never approve of. Someone whose career would be destroyed if anyone found out about us."
The pieces began clicking together in my mind with sickening clarity. The mysterious phone calls, the unexplained absences, the way she'd been so understanding about my own restless nights.
"Is it James ?"
"Yes."
The truth finally came out. I wasn’t in a position to question what I saw in the garden another day but hoped she would tell me when she was ready.
"We've been together for months. Secret meetings, stolen moments, living a complete lie every day we're around family." Her words tumbled out faster now, as if she'd been holding them back for too long. "And when I invited you here, I thought... I hoped that if Edward was distracted by you, if there was another romantic situation for the family to focus on, maybe no one would notice what James and I were doing."