Instead, I would do something far more significant. Something that would force all of these shadowy concerns into the light.
I pulled out my phone, typing a text before I could second-guess myself:
We need to tell Miles. This weekend. Together.
Lucas's response came almost immediately:
Are you sure?
Yes, I replied. It's time for honesty. All the way.
As I pressed send, I realized I'd just chosen a path that couldn't be undone.
No more shadows. No more secrets.
No more pretending our relationship existed in a bubble separate from the real world.
Catherine Reid had intended to plant seeds of doubt, to make me question Lucas's capacity for transparency, for genuine connection.
Instead, she'd galvanized me toward the one thing that would test all her theories and warnings.
Complete honesty. Full exposure. The dismantling of the carefully constructed privacy that had previously protected our relationship.
If Lucas had walls as impenetrable as Catherine claimed, this would reveal them. If he retreated when vulnerability became too threatening, I would see it happen.
And if he didn't—if he stood beside me, facing his son with the truth of our connection—then perhaps Catherine Reid had done us an unexpected favor after all.
Either way, by Monday morning, everything would change.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, I felt something almost like peace settle over me as I slipped Catherine's unopened envelope into my bedside drawer.
Some battles you chose.
Others chose you.
This one, it seemed, had been choosing me from the moment I'd met Lucas Turner at that wedding bar, before I knew his name, before I knew the complications he would bring into my life.
Before I knew he would become necessary to it.
Chapter 19
Lucas
The Turner family estate loomed on the hillside like a monument to ambition—six thousand square feet of stone and glass overlooking the Bay, surrounded by manicured grounds and ancient oak trees.
My father's recent health scare had prompted this weekend gathering—a family lunch with the pretense of normalcy.
But today would shatter any illusion of normal.
Today, Savannah and I will tell Miles the truth.
The gravel crunched beneath my tires as I pulled up the circular driveway, Savannah silent beside me.
She'd been quiet all morning, tension evident in the tight line of her shoulders, the way her fingers worried the hem of her dress.
I reached across the console, covering her hand with mine.
"We don't have to do this today," I said, offering one last escape route.
