Chapter 2
The kid’s eyes flicked from Evelyn on the floor, to the broken glass, to me standing over her, my hand still curled around the locket.
His posture shifted instantly.
Shoulders back, jaw tight, every inch the protective son who’d spent his whole life looking out for his mom.
He dropped his backpack on the floor and crossed the room in three long strides.
“Mom, what’s going on?” he asked, helping her to her feet. He stood between her and me, his chin tilted up, even though I was a good four inches taller and twice as broad. “Did he hurt you?”
Evelyn grabbed his arm, her fingers digging into his jacket.
“Liam, no, honey, it’s fine—”
“It’s not fine,” he cut her off, glaring at me. “Who are you, and why are you touching my mom’s necklace?”
I held up my hands, slow, so I wouldn’t scare him.
“I’m not going to hurt either of you,” I said, my voice calmer than I felt. “I just need your mom to tell me the truth.”
“The truth about what?” Liam demanded.
“About why she left me 18 years ago,” I said. “About why she changed her name. About you.”
Evelyn went pale.
She swayed a little, and Liam tightened his grip on her arm.
“Liam, let’s go,” she said, her voice trembling. “We’ll talk about this later, I promise—”
“No,” I said, stepping forward just enough to block their path to the elevator. “We talk about this now. You’ve had 18 years to run. I’m not letting you walk out that door again.”
Margaret, who’d been frozen in the doorway this whole time, cleared her throat.
“Should I… give you folks some space?” she asked.
I nodded, never taking my eyes off the two people in front of me.
“Clear the rest of the day, Margaret. No calls, no meetings, no deliveries. Tell my team I’m offline until further notice.”
She left without another word, closing the heavy front door softly behind her.
The three of us stood in silence for a long minute.
The only sound was Evelyn’s ragged breathing and the distant wail of a siren far below on the street.
Liam was the first to break it.
“Mom,” he said, turning to her, his voice softer now, scared. “What is he talking about? Why does he know your old name? Why does he have your locket?”
Evelyn’s face crumpled.
She looked at me, then at her son, and I saw the exact moment she realized she couldn’t run anymore.
She’d spent 18 years hiding, and now all her secrets were spilling out on my marble floor, right next to the shards of my mom’s glass.
“Let’s sit down,” I said, gesturing to the leather couches by the window. “Please. I’m not going to yell. I just want answers.”
Liam hesitated, then guided his mom to the couch farthest from me.
He sat right next to her, their shoulders pressed together, his hand still wrapped around hers.
He didn’t take his eyes off me for a second.
I sat across from them, my elbows on my knees, my head in my hands for a second before I looked up.
“Evelyn,” I said, quiet. “That locket. I gave it to you the night of prom. You told me you’d never take it off, no matter what.”
She nodded, tears dripping onto her uniform shirt.
“Then why did you leave?” I asked, and my voice broke this time. “I waited for you. I came home, and you were gone. Everyone said you left me for another man. I hated you for so long. I built this whole stupid life just to forget you, and now you’re here, and you have a son who’s exactly my age—”
“I didn’t leave you for another man,” she cut in, so loud it made both of us jump.
She wiped her face with the back of her hand, her shoulders shaking.
“I left because I had to. Because if I didn’t, they were going to destroy you before you even got started.”
Liam’s head snapped to her.
“Who, Mom? Who was going to destroy him?”
She took a deep, shuddering breath.
May you like
“His stepmother,” she said, and looked right at me.
“Victoria.”
