Page 27 of Secrets of the Past (Secrets of Mustang Island #3)

I t had been over twenty years since Nicole had been in Tripp’s family home, which felt cold and loveless.

Suzanne Masterson’s living room was as pristine and suffocating as Nicole remembered. The white marble floors gleamed, the chandelier glittered, the faint perfume of roses clung to the air. Everything about the house screamed of control, power, perfection, and exclusion.

Nicole sat stiffly on the sofa. Her parents perched nearby, nervous and pale. They hadn’t wanted to come today, but she’d insisted.

Suzanne entered with her usual regal grace, pearls gleaming at her throat, her presence commanding the space.

“Let’s not waste time,” Suzanne said coolly. “I have guests arriving later. We all know why we’re here.”

What had she ever done to that woman to deserve such contempt, other than being born without money or power in her veins?

She’d clawed her way up, graduated at the top of her class, earned her law degree, and built a reputation as one of the best prosecutors in the state.

And still—it wasn’t enough. Nothing would ever be enough for Suzanne Masterson.

Why was she not good enough to marry her son?

Nicole’s pulse hammered. “Tell me. Tell us everything you’ve kept from us.”

Tripp crossed the room and slid his hand into hers, the gesture firm, deliberate.

It wasn’t just comfort, it was a statement.

They stood together now, side by side, no longer the kids their parents could bully or manipulate.

Yet the air in the room bristled with tension, every glance sharp, every silence heavy.

It didn’t feel like family. It felt like stepping onto hostile ground.

With Tripp’s hand in hers, she finally felt strong enough. This time, she wouldn’t stand alone, and she wouldn’t back down.

Suzanne’s smile was small, sharp. “Very well. Twenty years ago, when you and my son ran off like children and married, you forced our hands. That marriage could not stand. You were far too young, too foolish, and certainly mismatched.”

“We were in love,” Nicole said, her voice shaking but fierce.

Did the woman even have a heart, or had she traded it long ago for diamonds and social standing? Cold, detached, obsessed with things that meant nothing, Suzanne Masterson’s only true love had ever been wealth and status, and she worshiped them like gods.

And she’d sacrificed everyone else at their altar.

Suzanne’s lip curled. “Love doesn’t last. Reputation does. Future does. My husband, God rest his soul, saw it clearly. He drafted the annulment papers himself. Together, we arranged everything.”

Tripp’s jaw tightened. “What do you mean arranged ?”

Nicole felt the tension rolling off Tripp, saw the anger tightening his jaw, and she squeezed his hand hard, a silent reminder of the promise they’d made—to stay calm, no matter what came out, no matter what truths they unearthed.

But, God, she hadn’t realized how excruciating it would be to sit there and listen to the way their marriage had been deliberately sabotaged.

Suzanne looked at Tripp as though she were explaining something to a child. “We created the emails. Your father created yours, and Maria created Nicole’s. Both claiming you’d made a mistake. You each believed the other had walked away.”

Nicole’s stomach dropped. “No…”

She’d known her parents had a hand in it, but hearing the truth out loud and learning their part in this tragedy was a wound she hadn’t been prepared for. It cut deeper than she thought possible.

Her own mother had crafted the email to Tripp.

Maria’s sob broke the silence. “It’s true.”

Her father’s voice was low and rough. “They offered us money. Seventy-five thousand dollars. Enough to put you through college and even fix up the house. We told ourselves it was for the best. That you’d thank us someday.”

Nicole staggered to her feet, her throat burning.

Tears filled her eyes. Tripp’s parents had offered money to end their marriage.

Blood money to buy her out of his life. How could they?

The realization drove into her like a knife to the chest, sharp and merciless, the betrayal cutting so deep she could hardly breathe.

The people she’d trusted had more than just deceived her. “You sold me. You sold my marriage for a check.”

Her father looked stricken. Her mother’s hands shook around her handkerchief.

Suzanne’s eyes glittered. “We did what had to be done. My husband handled the paperwork. We took Dustin to Europe until it was complete. By the time he returned, the annulment was final. Clean. Erased.”

For that witch, it had been nothing more than a tidy cleanup on aisle five. But it wasn’t spilled groceries she swept aside—it was Nicole and Tripp’s life. Their love. Their future. She’d swept it all into the trash without a second thought.

She hadn’t just meddled, she’d destroyed.

Did Tripp know what they’d done?

Nicole turned to Tripp, pain burning through her. “Did you know?”

His face was pale, fury trembling in his hands. “I knew nothing.”

Her knees weakened. Twenty years of silence, of heartbreak, explained in a handful of words.

They hadn’t failed each other, their parents had failed them.

Suzanne rose, her expression triumphant. “And now you’ve come crawling back to each other, thinking you can rewrite history. But nothing has changed. I will never accept you, Nicole. Not then. Not now. Not ever.”

“Mother—” Tripp’s voice broke. “Don’t say something you’ll regret.”

Nicole caught the way Tripp’s fist clenched at his side, anger radiating off him in waves as his mother’s venom dripped her name.

Suzanne Masterson didn’t just disapprove—she wanted Nicole erased.

Cast out. Not now, not ever. The words stung, sharp as glass, but Nicole lifted her chin.

She’d been broken once by this woman’s contempt. Never again.

“No,” Suzanne snapped. “If you choose her, you go against me, against everything our family name stands for. She will always be beneath you, and I will never give her a place in this house.”

The woman hated her.

Tears stung Nicole’s eyes. Why would she ever want to tie herself to his family?

No matter how deeply she loved Tripp, she would always be an outsider.

Their children would be born unwanted, unloved, judged by the same cruel standards.

How could she ever build happiness on a foundation that told her, again and again, she would never be enough?

She turned to Tripp, her heart splintering.

“I can’t do this right now. I need time.

I need to breathe.” Despite all that she’d said about not letting his mother get between them, she couldn’t imagine Tripp being ripped away from everything that mattered to him.

Even though he loved her now, would he come to regret giving up his family for her?

His grip on her hand tightened; she could see the fear in his eyes. “Don’t let her win again. Please, Nicole.”

Her voice cracked. “I’m sorry. I love you. But I can’t. I need some time.”

She pulled her hand free and turned to her parents. “We’re leaving.”

They rose quickly, her mother dabbing at her eyes, her father silent, grim. Nicole didn’t look back at Tripp because if she did, she wouldn’t be able to walk away.

The car ride was suffocating. Nicole drove, tears streaming unchecked down her face. Her father couldn’t drive any longer, and her mother, she feared, would not have found her way to the Masterson’s home. But now she just wanted to get away from them.

“How could you?” she whispered at last, her voice raw. “How could you take their money? How could you let them erase my marriage? My life?”