Page 110 of The Truth of Us

"You knew who she was this whole time?" I felt like I was spiralling.

"No."

I blinked. "What?"

"I knew there was more to her than Harper Lane. When I did my initial search, not much came up, but the more time I spent with her, I knew there had to be more to it."

"That is not an answer."

"It is the only one you're getting." He said with a shrug, his eyes trailing over the sea of people all jockeying to try to get time with the Montgomerys.

My temper flared because anger was easier. Anger was familiar. Anger made sense. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rowan looked at me as if I had lost my mind. "Why would I?"

"Because she's Harper." I answered, my voice pitching and drawing some attention.

"Exactly." The word cut sharp. I stared at him, and he leaned slightly closer, voice low enough that only I could hear. "You never cared who she was, Elliot."

My mouth opened, closed. "That isn't…"

"You never cared who she was, just what she could do for you," he repeated. "You assumed a whole lot."

"I didn't know." I wasn’t even sure what I was trying to say at the moment.

"No," he said. "You didn't care enough to know. I almost told you, almost… But then I asked myself, what would you do with that information? Would you be one more person who would try to capitalize on her family… would you be one more person she needed to be protected from?"

My first instinct was to deny it. To tell him that he was wrong. To tell him I knew Harper. That I knew her laugh, her temper, her mouth, the sound she made when she was trying not to laugh, the exact look she gave me right before she decided I was an idiot. And suddenly all the things I did know felt small.

Rowan was studying me, I opened my mouth to say something, which was apparently the wrong thing to do because Rowan added, “But it didn’t matter anyway because you fucked up, and she ran… Tell me Elliot, would knowing she was a Montgomery changed how you treated her?”

I wanted to punch Rowan in his smug face. Because I didn’t care about her wealth or her family. My chest hurt, and I had to clench my hands into fists at my side to stop myself from rubbing at the ache. I was realizing that I had messed up long before that night…

Harper moved through the crowd with Alexander beside her. I watched as everyone moved around them, as if she was the moon pulling them along like the tide. She handled every greeting like she'd been born to it. That wasn't right, she had been raised for it. Then hidden from it, and I had thought she was a PR consultant with expensive taste and a few rich lovers in her past.

My stomach turned. I had said that to her. I had asked her about her sugar daddy… My throat tightened. I was going to be sick.

"Pull yourself together," Rowan whispered.

Harper reached our side of the room with Alexander, and the Hastings family nearby.

Rowan stepped forward first.

"Miss Montgomery."

Harper's lips curved faintly. "Mr. Black." There was warmth there, not much, but enough to tell me it existed between them and that they respected each other.

Caleb stepped in next. "Harper."

Her expression softened. "Caleb."

He leaned in and kissed her cheek; my vision tunnelled, not because I thought there was anything between them. Because he had the right to greet her like someone who knew her, and I didn't.

Theo grinned as he approached. "Well, well, well."

Harper arched an eyebrow. "Careful, Mr North."

Theo laughed. "Harper…" he tsked, then added, “We can’t go from being besties to such formalities.”