Stopping me from making the same mistakes I made with Thomas?
Margot sets down on the edge of my bed. "And what about what happened to you? Have you told Victor why you and Thomas got divorced?"
I rise to my feet. “What does Thomas have to do with anything?"
"Harper." Margot leans forward. "Have you ever told him the real reason Thomas left?"
"He knows I’m divorced."
"That's not what I asked."
I start to pace the room, my heartbeat quickening. "He knows Thomas cheated."
"Does he know it was with your best friend Alanna?” Amelia asks gently. "Does he know Thomas told you that you were 'convenient'? That he never actually loved you?"
Even now the words are like a lance driving through my skin.
My relationship with Thomas has been over for a year—the divorce final as of two months ago.
And somehow the pain is fresher than ever.
Except when I think about…him.
Victor.
The vision of his face in my mind is like a balm to wounds I was once afraid would never heal.
"Why does that matter?" I demand.
"Because—" Margot's voice softens. "—because you're hopefully in love with Victor. And if you haven't told him about the worst thing that happened to you, then you're not really letting him in."
"I've let him in plenty."
"Sexually, sure. But emotionally?" Amelia shakes her head. "Harper, you're doing it again. You're keeping the hard parts to yourself."
"The hard parts are mine to keep."
"Not if you want this relationship—or any relationship—to ever work."
Amelia kneels in front of me, taking my hands. "Harper. I'm getting married today. To a man who spent two months in Toronto working eighty-hour weeks because he's trying to make partner at his firm. Do you know how many times my stupid little ego thought about calling it off because I was convinced he was choosing work over me?"
"That's different?—"
"It's not. Declan loves me. But he also has a career he cares about. And sometimes those things are in conflict. And we have to figure out how to navigate that together." She squeezes my hands. "Victor loves you. I saw it at Sunda dinner. I saw it in those gala photos before everything imploded. That man is gone for you, Harper. Completely gone."
"Then why did he fire me?"
“Because, from what you’ve told us about him, trusting people is basically impossible for him." Amelia pauses. "But he trusted you. And when he found out about FoodFirst, maybe it confirmed every awful thing he believes about himself—that he's unlovable, that people only want him for what he can give them, that real connection doesn't exist."
"I can't fix that."
"You don't have to fix it. You just have to show him it's not true."
"How?"
"By fighting for him. By not giving up. By proving that what you have is real, even when it's hard."
I want to argue, want to insist that it's too late, that the damage is done, that some things can't be fixed once broken.
