The night air moved softly through the garden, carrying the scent of flowers while three grown men sat around me pretending they hadn’t hidden life-changing information from me for an entire year.
I stared at them in disbelief.
Especially Hayes.
He looked completely calm sitting there with his glass in hand like this was nothing.
“How long were you planning to hide it from me?” I finally asked.
Nobody answered immediately.
Then Hayes spoke quietly. “Forever if I could.”
I almost laughed.
But this wasn’t funny.
My grip tightened slightly around my glass.
“I was the one who got stolen,” I said. “I was supposed to know the truth.”
They were silent. None of them argued with me.
That somehow made it worse.
I exhaled slowly and leaned back in my chair, staring up at the dark sky fo
