Page 113 of The Truth of Us

I had made her believe the same thing. On purpose. I had fucking timed it. I planned it. Made sure she saw Natalia. Made sure she thought I had touched someone else the second our arrangement ended. Not because I wanted another woman. Because I wanted to hurt Harper before she could hurt me.

Bile rose in my throat.

"Excuse me," I muttered.

I stepped away from Carlisle and made my way to a courtyard to get some space, some air. I needed to be alone; I needed to figure out how to fix this, because I knew with absolute clarity that I needed to fix this… The look on Harper’s face when she told me some things were worse than the actual act of cheating flashed through my mind, as Carlisle’s words circled in my head, I barely made it to the edge of the courtyard, before I bent over violently and heaved in a bush. Eventually, I stood up, trying to regain some semblance of composure. When I turned, Caleb and Theo were right behind me, Rowan behind them. All of them looked at me as if they had watched the realization happen in real time.

Caleb's face was pale.

"You knew Will," I said.

Caleb nodded slowly. "I did."

"You knew Harper was his sister?" I questioned, feeling like I didn’t know who to trust.

"No." The answer was immediate. His jaw flexed. "Not until tonight."

I turned to Rowan.

My voice came out hoarse. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Rowan's expression didn't soften, but his voice lowered. "Because it wasn't my story to tell."

I closed my eyes. The truth of that hit with brutal clarity.

Harper's life had already been stolen by people telling stories that did not belong to them.

And I was asking why no one had handed me another piece. When I opened my eyes, Rowan was still watching me. The way he was looking at me cracked something wide open in me.

Because I should have… I should have asked.

Who are you, Harper?

Where did you come from?

Why do cameras make you tense?

Why do you disappear from photographs?

Why do you understand my world so well, but never talk about yours?

Why does loyalty matter so much to you?

Why does the truth matter so much?

Why did you look at me as if I had gutted you when I said I didn't do anything wrong?

I had never asked. Because I thought I already knew enough, I thought she was temporary; I thought the terms mattered more than the truth, my ego and pride mattered more than what was real between us.

Caleb handed me a mint as Rowan led us back inside, Theo following behind us.

Across the ballroom, Harper stood beside Alexander. Her father leaned down and said something in her ear; she nodded, smiled and placed a reassuring hand on his arm. I felt like I was intruding watching that small, private moment. You didn’t need to hear what he had said to know that all he wanted was for her to be protected and happy.

I almost tripped over my own feet because, for the first time, I understood that I had not simply hurt her. I had stumbled directly into the deepest wound in her life and pressed down.

The room kept moving around me. Everything I had spent my life learning how to navigate, and I had never felt smaller. Theo said something. Maybe my name, or a warning. I didn't know. I couldn't stop looking at Harper. At the woman I loved, the woman I had wronged and rightfully lost. And standing there, in a room full of people waiting for Alexander Montgomery's daughter to speak, I finally understood something I should have known from the beginning.

Getting Harper back wasn't the point, not yet; becoming someone who deserved to stand near her was.