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‘Some.’
‘You don’t sound very concerned,’ Isabelle bit out.
‘I’m still processing it,’ Olivia answered. ‘I only found out five minutes ago.’
‘And do you realise,’ Isabelle asked frostily, ‘how weak and foolish it makes our family look, to have you chasing after a Chatsfield?’
Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep, even breath. ‘I wasn’t chasing him.’
‘That’s not what the papers are saying.’
‘And since when have you cared what the papers say?’ Olivia demanded. ‘Or is it only because it’s me, the screw-up?’
Isabelle was silent for a beat. ‘You’re not a screw-up, Olivia,’ she said quietly.
‘No?’ Olivia drew a clogged breath, hating that she was sounding so emotional. ‘It’s felt that way to me.’
‘Why?’
Such a simple question, and yet how could she answer? ‘No one has ever taken my acting seriously. No one except Mom.’
Isabelle was silent for a moment. ‘I’m sorry,’ she finally said. ‘I suppose it always seemed like something you and Mom had together.’
‘I miss her,’ Olivia whispered, blinking back tears. ‘Even now.’
‘Oh, Livvy, so do I.’
‘I let her down so badly,’ Olivia said, her voice squeezed through her throat. ‘At the end. You saw how I avoided her...’
‘She understood, Olivia,’ Isabelle cut across her swiftly. ‘She told me once how her being sick was hardest on you, and how sad it made her, knowing she was hurting you.’
‘She was hurting me?’
‘She understood,’ Isabelle said firmly. ‘Trust me. Mom always knew how you felt.’
A tear slipped down Olivia’s cheek. She heard the truth in Isabelle’s voice, and it finally set her free. She could forgive herself. Her mom had known.
But could Ben forgive himself, truly? He was struggling with the same kind of guilt she was...and he’d told her he was afraid of hurting her. He still didn’t trust himself. Still wasn’t free.
‘I’m sorry if I’ve been insensitive,’ Isabelle said, bringing Olivia back to the conversation. ‘I suppose the hotel has consumed me for a long time.’ She let out a sad little sigh. ‘Maybe too long.’
‘How are the negotiations going?’
‘Don’t ask.’
‘I’m sorry if this thing with Ben messes them up,’ Olivia said. ‘It all kind of spiralled out of control.’ In so many ways.
Isabelle sighed again, but this time she sounded both regretful and kind. ‘Never mind, Livvy. I’m sorry I’ve been on your case about it. I’m just really stressed right now.’
Olivia took a deep breath. ‘Isabelle, I’ll sell my shares to you. I’m sorry I’ve held on to them for so long.’
‘It was a lot to ask...’
‘I’m happy to do it.’
‘Thank you,’ Isabelle said, her voice heartfelt. ‘Thank you, Olivia.’
They talked for a little longer, and when Olivia hung up she realised that it had been by far the most honest and important conversation she’d had with a family member in over a decade.
And now she needed to find Ben. She needed to tell him the truth of how she felt—and she wanted to help him find the same freedom she had. That he’d helped her to find.
She headed for his office, and groaned inwardly when she saw his PA give her a triumphant glare. Olivia decided to cut to the chase.
‘So how much did the papers pay you to give a tell-all about Ben and me? Not,’ she couldn’t resist adding, ‘that that would have amounted to very much.’
The other woman bristled, but made no pretence as to not knowing what Olivia was talking about. ‘Nobody paid me.’
‘So why did you do it?’
‘Because Ben Chatsfield deserves someone better than you.’
Olivia blinked at the savagery in the woman’s tone, but then, to her own surprise, she felt herself soften in sympathy. ‘You know,’ she told the woman quietly, ‘I would have believed that once. I did believe that once. But now I know differently. I know I bring out the best in him and he brings out the best in me.’ And she wanted to tell him that—and more. She wanted, needed, to tell him she loved him.
