Page 92 of Shattered Dreams

Alice and Stella have been by my side through the past two weeks, giving me their support, keeping me steady as my memories returned, and I remember everything.

“Stella, please tell Zane I want to see him now.”

“I will.”

“Do you want me to stay with you?” Alice asks, sitting in a chair in the corner of a cozy library.

I don’t need a buffer. I’m not scared of Zane and don’t fear us being alone. He’s never hurt me, even if he thinks he has. “No. It’s okay. Dr. Alice, you can go.”

She tilts her head and studies me. “You don’t mean for the hour.”

“No.”

Smiling, she crosses the room and rests her hands on my shoulders. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Yes, I will. Thank you for everything.” I kiss her cheek goodbye.

“You’re welcome. Good luck, my dear. Contact me if you need.”

“I will.”

We both know I won’t.

Alone, I look into a decorative mirror hanging on the wall. My hair is shorter than I’ve worn it in the past, but I like it. I’m not wearing any jewelry, but there’s only one piece I want to wear and he hasn’t given it to me yet.

Zane tentatively shuffles into the library carrying a tray and coffee service.

“Stella,” I say to his reflection, nodding at the coffee. She always thinks of everything.

“Of course.”

He’s nervous. His hands shake as he sets the tray down on the coffee table, and he smooths his tie even though it doesn’t need it.

I pause for a moment and then rush into his arms.

We stagger backward and fall onto a couch, and he wraps his arms around me and sobs into my hair. “I’m so sorry.”

Leaning away, I ask him to look at me. “It’s not your fault,” I say, drying his cheeks.

“Yes, it is. Believing Stella and Sergio Cardello ran away together, using Nathalie. Giving Ash power of attorney. Our friendship. All of it.”

“I believed everything he said. All the nasty lies he told about Mom and Dad, about how if I said anything he would destroy our company, ruin Mom and Dad’s reputation, and smear our name. He threatened to kill you if I talked. I wanted to keep their memories safe, keepyousafe, and he twisted that to make me do what he wanted. I should have talked to you, but he convinced me that you wouldn’t believe me. I let him take Stella. You aren’t the only one who’s guilty.”

“You don’t hate me, then?”

“Ash kidnapped Stella that night at the Lyndhurst, and that’s my responsibility, my burden. She’s the love of your life. I was selfish and scared, and I traded her freedom for mine. Doyouhateme?”

“I could never hate you, Z, and she wouldn’t want us to hang on to the past. She’s managed to forgive me, forgive everything I’ve done.”

We sit in a heap, my head on his shoulder. I twist the wedding band on his finger. “You two are married now.”

“Yeah, thanks to you. It’s the only good thing that came out of this whole mess.”

My head pops up. “That’s not true. We stopped Clayton and Ash from doing some terrible things, not only murdering Mom and Dad. They hurt a lot of people, and they were working for Rourke. What did he want with the Alzheimer’s drug?”

“Before Clayton and Ash were arrested, while you were at Quiet Meadows, they were formulating a drug they planned to use on the president.”

“The president of the United States?”

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