Page 116 of The Silent Note

“But I don’t get it,” Cadence adds. “If you and Zane were close enough to sleep together, why wasn’t he here to meet Hall with you? If he ever finds out I let you do this alone and didn’t tell him?—”

“Zane doesn’t need to know everything I’m doing.”

“Huh.”

“And we’re not close.”

“I see.”

“He might be fulfilling a few,” I stumble over the words, “husbandly duties, but neither of us are taking this marriage seriously.”

Cadey turns somber. “You’re wrong.”

Something deep inside me jolts.

“Zane is taking this extremely seriously and I get the feeling you know that too.”

“I…”

“Honestly, Miss Jamieson—Grey, I mean. I get it. I think someone like you—someone who’s honest and passionate about justice and rules, you’re probably torn up about what it means to be married to Zane with all the complications there. ”

“Him being my student is not a ‘complication’. It’s a fact. And it’swrong.” My voice trembles.

“Wrong.” She sighs heavily. “Is Zane a minor?”

I swallow hard.

She stares at me like she’s a woman on a mission. “Is he?”

“Eighteen is too young?—”

“Is he underage?” she asks firmly.

“No.”

“Did you meet him when he was a minor?”

I squeeze my eyes shut. “Of course not. And I wouldn’t have gotten involved with him at all if he was.”

“Exactly. Zane knows that. Dutch knows that. We all know that.”

“The world won’t see it that way.”

“Who cares what the world thinks? You two are married.”

“On paper.”

“Which is where most legal marriages are recognized.” She taps a finger on the bench. “This isn’t just a nasty little fling. This isn’t some tabloid story. There were extenuating circumstances, sure. But the fact is he choseyouto spend the rest of his life with.”

She throws her hands up. “If you don’t want to be with Zane, that’s a completely separate matter and I one hundred percent support whatever decision you make. These boys have lived their whole lives getting what they want. Especially with girls. And especially Zane. It’s about time he had to earn someone instead of just jumping from one girl to the next. Trust me. I’m not going to sugar coat who he is. But I’m also not going to lie about what heisn’t. He isn’t a child. And he isn’t being manipulated.We both know that. He’s well aware of what the world will think about his decision, what they’ll say about you and him, all the obstacles you’ll have to face,all of it.And with everything against him, he still chose to be withyou.”

“That’s the reason I was a part of your wedding, the reason I supported you two. Thereissomething between you and Zane. But more importantly, there’s something about you that makes Zane better. And there’s something about Zane that makes you free. If he’s willing to fight to protect that, what’s left to be afraid of?”

I glance away. Her words are convincing. She’s making it sound so easy, but reality won’t change because of one uplifting speech from Dutch’s wife.

“Cadence, I understand where you’re coming from, but fighting for each other isn’t enough. This is the real world. We can’t go around bending the boundaries to fit our fantasies. There are rules. There are social conventions. Even if something isn’t technically illegal, that doesn’t mean it’s acceptable behavior. If we start playing with those lines, people won’t be ashamed of anything. And then the lines will continue to move and move and move further into the darkness.”

She opens her mouth to argue.

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