Page 92 of Malicious Marriage

Was it worth it?

I carted Bobby halfway across the world and the stress of the whole thing gave him a heart attack. I lied andliedto Dean’s face and now our relationship teeters on a knife’s edge. My sister wants nothing to do with me and my years of searching and hoping have brought me nothing but aching disappointment and pain. How fucked is the world that through this whole, entire fiasco, my uncle was the only one who congratulated me on marrying Dean?

Did my bright future make him reevaluate his desire to kick me from the family? Did our years apart and his aging persuade him that family was important?

No.

Not Malcom.

He must have seen the Savoy dollar signs and that’s what’s made him act nice. He’s not the person I want in my corner, but somehow, he’s the only one left.

And to top it all off, I’m pregnant.

My head dips down slowly until my forehead rests against the cool countertop.

What am I going to do? If I tell Dean about the baby now, it will just look like some desperate attempt to save our relationship, and even though I can prove it, it’ll also just be another thing I kept from him. Another secret. Another lie.

I just wanted to save my sister.

In the process, I destroyed everything.

“Clover?”

My head snaps upright. “Dean?”What the hell is he doing here?

“Sorry, the door was unlocked, so I let myself in.”

I nervously smooth my hands down my blouse and run one hand through my hair as my heart starts to pound. “No, yeah, yeah, I uhm… must have forgot to lock it.” I briefly glance around the kitchen. “Got home and no one was here.” Now that I think about it, where is everyone? Malcom isn’t home and all his guards are gone.

Weird.

“How is Bobby?” Dean, while looking as handsome as ever, also looks pained. The grey in his hair seems to shine a bit brighter and small bags cling under his dark eyes.

“He’s okay.” I shift my weight on the stool. “Doctor… uh, the doctor says he’ll be okay, he just needs to rest. Manage his stress better. Take a holiday. That sort of thing. They’re going to keep him in for a little while, but that’s uh… that’s for the best.”

I’m so nervous I might puke. Dean is here. He must still care about me, right? Why else would he come?

Maybe I can save this.

If I can just catch the trailing tendrils of all my lies and regain control, then I can save my relationship with him. I just have to recapture the illusion I created for him in the first place.

“That’s good.” Dean remains by the door. “You know why I’m here.”

“Uh…” My breath trembles and I swallow hard, trying not to let my nerves show. “To talk?”

“I want the truth, Clover. All of it. Understand? I want to know why you lied about your sister, why you lied about the money. I need to know and I need to hear it from you because right now, it feels like there’s nothing between us but lies.”

I fight the sting of warm tears behind my eyes by biting into my cheek.

“I trusted you, Clover. I thought we had a good arrangement built on trust and I came to caregreatlyfor you, but right now, I feel like a puppet you’ve been toying with and I need to know the truth. No more lies. No more.”

“There aren’t many lies,” I say desperately, falling back into old habits. “I was truthful about everything other than my sister and I told you I only fudged that because our arrangement didn’t feel like there was space for me to tell you I’d been searching for her for years.”

“Clover.” Dean walks forward.

“And we did have money troubles,” I continue in a rush. “Remember at the gala? Even your friends know about Malcom’s gambling so you know the money problems are real.”

“Clover,” Dean says again.