Chapter 7: When They Came Begging

The next morning, I arrived at the office early.

I had barely finished my first cup of coffee when my assistant knocked on the door.

"Briar, there are two people here asking to see you."

I didn't need to ask who they were.

"Send them in."

Mom and Dad walked through the door.

They looked older than I remembered.

Mom's eyes were swollen from crying.

Dad kept his hands clasped behind his back, his expression unusually stiff.

Neither of them spoke at first.

I gestured toward the chairs.

"Sit."

Mom lowered herself into one.

Dad remained standing.

"Briar, we're sorry."

I looked at them calmly.

"For what?"

Mom's lips trembled.

"For everything."

"For believing Tatum."

"For what happened at the hospital."

"For the baby."

The last sentence hung heavily in the room.

I lowered my eyes to my coffee.

"You didn't believe Tatum because she was convincing."

"You believed her because you wanted to."

Dad's face tightened.

"That's not fair."

I looked up.

"Isn't it?"

"When Tatum lied about my SAT location, you laughed."

"When she humiliated me in front of Hudson, you laughed."

"When she ruined my wedding day, you laughed."

"And when I lost my baby, you didn't even know I was in the hospital."

Neither of them had an answer.

Mom began crying.

"We thought you were just being difficult."

"We thought Tatum brought happiness into the family."

"She did."

I nodded slowly.

"For everyone except me."

Dad finally sat down.

"We've cut contact with Tatum."

"That doesn't change anything."

"We know."

His voice sounded defeated.

"But we still wanted you to know."

I studied his face.

For years, I had dreamed of hearing those words.

I had imagined my parents finally realizing that I wasn't the problem.

Yet now that they were sitting in front of me, I felt nothing.

"I don't hate you," I said.

Mom looked up hopefully.

"You don't?"

"No."

"But I don't want to go back."

Her hopeful expression disappeared.

"Briar..."

"You came all the way to London to apologize. I accept your apology."

"But my life is here now."

Dad nodded slowly.

"We understand."

Before they left, Mom pulled a small box from her handbag.

"Your grandmother left this for you."

I opened it.

Inside was a delicate gold bracelet I hadn't seen since childhood.

My grandmother had given it to me before she died.

Mom had kept it all these years.

"She always said you were the strongest one in the family," Mom whispered.

My throat tightened.

I closed the box.

"Thank you."

They left without asking me to come home.

That was the first thing they had done for me without demanding something in return.

I thought that was the end of it.

It wasn't.

That evening, my phone buzzed with an unknown number.

I almost ignored it.

Then a message appeared.

[Briar, it's Tatum.]

Another message followed.

[You need to meet me.]

I deleted it.

A minute later, another arrived.

[Hudson doesn't know the whole truth.]

My hand froze.

I stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

[If you don't meet me, I'll tell everyone what really happened between us.]

My heart sank.

What really happened between us?

I had never had anything to hide from Tatum.

Unless she was talking about something I didn't know.

I typed one reply.

[Say it here.]

The typing indicator appeared.

Then disappeared.

Appeared again.

Finally, she sent a photograph.

It was a picture of Hudson standing outside a hotel.

Beside him was Tatum.

The timestamp was dated three months before my wedding.

My blood ran cold.

Then Tatum sent one final message.

[You thought the wedding prank was the beginning.]

[It was actually the end of something that started long before you knew.]

I stared at the photograph.

For the first time since leaving home, my hands began to shake.

Whatever secret Tatum was holding had nothing to do with a stupid prank.

And somehow, Hudson had been keeping it from me too.