Page 181 of Rewind It Back

“Hallie.”

“How long have you been fucking your best friend’s husband,Mom?”

Her jaw tenses as she rolls the answer over in her mind. “It started last fall, after you left for college.”

I shake my head. “Unbelievable.”

“Things changed between me and your dad once you and your brother left the house. It was different without—”

“Do not blame us!” I point a finger at her. “Don’t you dare blame us for what you’re doing to our dad.”

Oh my God.My dad.

Those tears I was trying to delay begin stinging the back of my eyes again. “Why would you do this to him?” I can’t even recognize the woman standing in front of me. “Dad has cancer and you’re off having an affair with his closest friend?”

She takes a frantic step in my direction, but I hold my hands out to stop her.

“I was ending it,” she attempts to claim. “That’s all this was. I was ending it for your father.”

“For my father?” The laugh that rips out of me sounds manic. “How about not cheating on him in the first place? This is going to destroy him. And Mia.”

And Rio.

Oh my God.

This is going to devastate him. His parents’ marriage iseverythingto him. It’s the foundation on which he’s built his own ideas of what love looks like.

It’ll be entirely dismantled because of this.

I choke back a sob. “Rio’s heart is going to be broken, Mom.”

“No,” she says firmly. “Hallie, you cannot tell him.”

My eyes shoot to hers because what the hell does she mean I can’t tell him? Of course I’m going to tell him. I have to. And screw her for making me be the person to break his heart.

“You can’t tell Mia either.”

“I have to! I’m not going to lie to Rio about this. We’re about to start our lives together and you expect me to keep this from him? No way. I’m not protecting you.”

“I’m not talking about protecting me.”

My eyes narrow in confusion.

“I’m talking about protecting your dad. You cannot tell anyone, Hallie. If your father finds out, thiswillkill him.”

All the air leaves me.

Did she really just say that?

And is she right?

Fear takes over again, pushing my rage to the side. I’m not sure what a broken heart would do to my dad when he’s fragile already, but no part of me wants to test her theory.

“Think about what this information could do to your dad’s health, Hallie. Do you really want to be the one to tell him?”

Chapter 42

Hallie

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