Page 97 of The Spare
Assemble the shattered and broken pieces of yourself, safe in the knowledge that even scars can catch the light.
A jolt runs through my body at the words.
Seeing me staring, his eyes slide to the quote before flickering back to mine.
"It's there to remind me every day that the world doesn't wait, Mase." He turns back to the hand painted quote on the wall. "Even when we need it to," he says softly. "It's choosing to understand the raw truth about life: it doesn't wait until you're ready to break you down and strip you of your innocence and your preconceived notions of what love is…or what family means.It's choosing tounderstand that life will break you down, and you have to get up and find that drive within you to keep going anyway." He turns, his eyes pinning mine. "That's why I gave you that money to start up."
"You saw something in me my own father didn't," I say harshly, that pain of choosing to go at it alone those first two and a half years without the protection of my family name throbbing in my chest.
Even though I eventually formed my own sector under King Dynasty, I wasn't allowed in until my father deemed I was ready.
Uncle William's eyes soften; he folds his arms and shakes his head on a deep sigh. "I saw a man who needed someone to take a chance on him. A man who just wanted to survive. But I know what it's like to survive, Mason. And I knew that if you were just let out of your corner long enough, that you might have half a chance ofthriving."
His eyes rise to meet mine. Emotion rolls through me, causing my throat to tighten and my eyes to prick with unshed tears, and his voice softens with his next words.
"But…I also saw a man who desperately needed forgiveness and understanding. Something I was never granted."
Chapter twenty-nine
The One That Died
Back at home in New York, I bite my lip, the letter in my possession burning a hole in my pocket. I pull it out as Mason rolls our luggage through the foyer, and I can't even wait for him to put his wallet on the sideboard before I'm bursting at the seams with anticipation.
"Have you seen this?" I say the second we're back in our house and out of earshot of the security.
"Seen what?" He glances down curiously at the piece of paper I'm clenching in my fingers. My hand shakes, just knowing I've hit the jackpot of all jackpots with this letter. A small part of the missing piece of the King Dynasty archives I'd been studying. But a piece nonetheless.
I thrust it at him, eager to get answers. "How come you've never told me about this before?" I say accusatorially.
"Aboutwhat,Melody?" he says sharply tilting his head. "Jesus, you're practically vibrating."
"Your aunt Stephanie!" I pause at the perplexed look on his face. "The…the second," I whisper, feeling stupid. Suddenly hit with the knowledge that I might have unknowingly stepped into something bad.
"Who?"His eyes meet mine sharply. "What are you talking about?"
I falter, feeling my face pale. "Um…" My fingers tighten, wanting to rewind the last minute of time so I can tear the paper up and act like I'd never seen it.
I have no such luck. Mason takes the paper from me, opening it slowly. I blow out a calming breath in a feeble attempt to still my racing heart as his eyes widen at the beginning contents referencing Richard and William.
"Where did you get this?" he asks. At my silence his eyes go back to mine. "Melody?" I wring my hands as his voice lowers."Did you steal this from William's library?"
"No!"I snap. "I'm not a thief. I made a copy of it. He's still got the original."
We stare at each other for ten very long seconds before he turns, stepping further into the den, then sitting down on a seat. He puts his elbows on his knees and reads silently, still as a statue. His brow furrows, and he sits back in the seat with a rough exhale, scrubbing ahand across his jaw as he holds the paper higher. When he's finished, his hand falls to his thigh, and he just stares off towards the glass windows.
The second morphs into a full minute of teeth-clenching silence.
"Mason!" I grit out, reaching forward and shaking his arm. He turns his head and looks at me, his eyes roaming my face thoughtfully. "Well?" I ask hopefully.
"I didn't know anything about this," he says in a hollow, almost disembodied voice. "I didn't know I had an aunt….Father's never mentioned any of this." His face is tight with distress, and I knew I was right to wait until we were home before I sprang this on him.
"I'm sorry, Mason," I say quietly, rubbing his thigh, not knowing what to say.
What a horrible family secret.
He shifts in his seat, reaching to pull his phone out of his pocket.
"What are you doing?" My voice is hesitant, hoping to God he's not calling his father.
