Page 41 of Shattered Echoes

I turn to David and find him watching me. “Got something you want to say, David?” The butler shifts but shakes his head.

“Come on,” I say. “It’s still me. You can always talk to me. You look like you’re bursting to say something. Tell me. What’s wrong?”

I see him weigh it in his mind, turn it around, testing the idea.he decides. “It all just feels like a big ol' farce!”

“What?” I’m both amused and surprised, but I asked the man to speak.

He gestures at the party. “This. All of this. I mean, look at them. They would like to pretend to themselves that everything is alright. But it’s not. They are trying too hard to have fun, and I wonder if this was a smart move by Master Henry.”

I was just thinking the same thing. I nod, scanning the crowd and seeing what David is talking about. The forced laughter, the postures of people trying too hard to make conversation. Watching the room look like a painting, fabricate what a party should look like… the perfect picture. Only it lacks the most vital thing. Something worth celebrating.

“Not like I can blame him,” David continues, his face filled with emotion, “seeing how he got her into the mess. In a way, her leaving is more a celebration for him than anyone else.”

It takes every piece of stage training I’ve received to keep a stoic demeanor, trying not to breathe or move too. David seems to have forgotten himself. Either that, or having dammed up his feelings for so long, there’s no way to stem the flow now. I want to hear what he has to say, and I pray he doesn’t change his mind.

“His father always pushed him too hard, I suppose,” he continues, to my relief. “It never made him feel like he was good enough to inherit his empire. And I fear the company was near ruin. What was the poor man to do but look for ways to save his father’s empire? That dreadful man was a billionaire, and he was single. Master Henry and Mr. Monroe cut the deal, leaving Ms. Colette in the dark. "

“He suggested that man — I won’t debase myself by speaking his name, encouraged Ms. Colette to give him a chance. Made it seem like the smartest thing in the world. And the whole time, it was all about getting some business, like the young lady was a prized bull.”

I listen to everything with disbelief, with outrage swirling inside me. I clench my fists so tight, my knuckles turn bone white. I have a million questions, but I listen. Listen to how my friend sold out his own sister.

“After the wedding,” David says, “Mr. Monroe handed the business over to him. It seemed like a fairy tale ending, I suppose, until it wasn’t. And now we are here, and poor, young Master Henry has to deal with causing his actions. I can’t even imagine how much all that guilt is eating him alive, turning him into a shell of a man.”

I’ve heard enough. I leave David behind, a part of me wondering if the old man even realizes he doesn’t observe anymore. How long had he been keeping that to himself, burning with outrage at what was done to Colette??

I make a beeline for the study. I know this house like I grew up in it. I find Henry in a dim room, the only light coming from the lamp on the desk. There’s a half bottle of whiskey in front of him, and he knocks down a glass just as I enter.

He turns and sees me, a smile spreading across his face. “Antonio! I—”

“Deny it,” I seethe. I loom over him, my expression cold and hateful. “Look me in the eye, Henry, and deny it.”

He blinks in confusion and pushes his chair backward, stumbling to his feet. “Deny it? What the fuck are you talking about, man?”

I resist the urge to pummel him, straining as I hold the leash in my anger. “Tell me I heard wrong. Tell me that my friend didn’t sell his sister into a nightmare for money. HENRY! DENY IT!”

He gasps and stumbles backwards, collapsing into his seat, his eyes wide with terror and shame. “Oh.”

It’s the most pitiful, sorriest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. And in that moment, watching him, I know that everything I heard was true. All of it. For the first time, I see him. A sad, hollowed out, broken thing, wracked by pain and guilt. I don’t care, not after night after night of pulling Col out of the most dreadful nightmares. Nightmares that make her weep when she wakes up. It was all his fault.

“How, Henry?” I ask, feeling myself about to bring down the wrath of a God on him. “How could you let this happen? How? Even after knowing what happened to my sister?”

He pours himself another drink, his shaky hand spilling the golden liquid on the desk. He takes a drink, and I see tears in his eyes. “I…I did not know,” he whispers. “Oh, God.” And then he breaks down, tears pouring out of his eyes.

I walk away. I can hear blood pumping through my ears as I climb down the stairs, dazed, and make my way back to my house. Trying hard not to process. Not to think. Not to analyze.

Because I know… I feel it. If I allowed myself to process this, there’s nothing that would stop me from hurting Henry. Nothing in this world. So, I walk away instead, knowing that something has broken inside me.

13

Colette

“You look so amazing!” Amy, my former boss, says, taking my hands and smiling.

She was one of the few who knew and supported me through my struggles. She assured me a job would wait upon my return. I don’t think that outcome is likely, and I’m guessing neither is she.

“Thanks, Amy,” I reply, trying to hide how exhausted I am from the cheers and countless congratulations.

I wonder how Henry gathered all these people. It seems he took my divorce anniversary even more seriously than I did, seeing how I had forgotten about it before he called. It was just going to be another lovely day for me, tucked in with Antonio, without a care in the world. The longer I stay here, the more I crave his company. I glimpsed him earlier, but he was on his way up the stairs to see Henry. I’ve been searching the crowd for him, and he’s nowhere to be found.

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