My wedding day. Connor’s polite smile. My father whispering, You deserve real love.
Maybe he knew. Maybe he suspected the truth all along.
“Why now?” I asked.
“Because my father’s gone. Because I finally have access to my own records. Because my mother can’t control everything anymore.”
“And what do you want from me?”
He looked straight at me, no hesitation this time.
“Help.”
Camille arrived two days later in a sleek black sedan that looked out of place on our quiet street.
She stepped out composed, elegant, and entirely in control.
“Sammie, dear,” she said with a practiced sweetness. “Grief does strange things. Especially when someone resembles a memory.”
“I know who he is,” I replied calmly.
Her expression sharpened almost imperceptibly.
“For Elias’s well-being, you should keep your distance,” she said. “Otherwise, paperwork will come—and he will disappear.”
Gabriel stiffened beside me.
