Page 133 of My Favorite Secret
“I was upset after you left. Distraught,” Harper explains. “I must have forgotten to take the pill. I’m four months in. But it’s okay. This is the life I want.”
“Bullshit. The old Harper wanted this life. Not you. You wanted the three of us to be together.”
“It was a foolish desire. Being with two men, two brothers, is not something that would be accepted?—”
“I don’t give a fuck what anyone else thinks,” I shout.
She shudders at my anger. “It’s not only about that. Tyler has always been here for me. I can trust him?—”
“He fucking lied to you.”
“I know.” She frowns. “I’m not pleased about his lies but… Protecting me from covering up a murder? His explanation makes sense, even if I don’t like it. The point is, Tyler has always been by my side. He’s proven himself to me. I know I’ll always have him.”
“You’re justifying his actions because you’re pregnant and scared.”
“Iamscared,” she murmurs. “I’ve lost everyone, Felix. Even ballet. My friends. My father is barely talking to me. I’m about to have a child. I need stability in my life?—”
“I’ve cleaned myself up. I’m not involved with eclipse or anything else illegal. I’m not going anywhere, Harper. What more can I do to prove this to you?”
“Your past is still following you, clearly. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have been taken away.”
I groan, pulling at my hair as I pace back and forth, contemplating how I can speak some sense into this girl.
“Felix… I should go.”
“No.” I pull her close. My hands gently frame her jaw as I meet her pained eyes. “This isn’t you, Harper. You want to be dancing on stage. You’re supposed to be a star. Don’t let anyone force you into a life you don’t want. We’re supposed to grow old together.”
Tears leak down her cheeks. I can see in her eyes that I still haven’t won her over. I’m desperate. My voice is breaking. Trembling. I’m losing the only real thing in my life that matters to me.
“Harper, I know you think you need to have this baby, but you don’t. We’ll run away together, just the two of us.”
Her eyes shut tight as she breaks down sobbing. “Please, stop. I love you, Felix. I don’t think I’ll ever stop loving you. But my life has changed since you’ve been gone and I can no longer be with you.”
She lowers my hands from her jaw. When she opens her eyes and looks at me, I realize this is it. There’s no changing her mind. This is the end of us.
I draw in a shaky breath, somehow finding my voice. “So, this is how everything ends.” A sour laugh slips from my lips. “And to think, you were always so convincedIwas the one who would breakyourheart.”
“I’m sorry, Felix. I really am.”
I take in the sight of her, knowing it’s the last time I’ll see her for… I don’t know how long. I won’t stick around to watch Harper and my brother live their life together and be happy. I won’t watch them get married and have a child.
I don’t know where I’ll go. Somewhere. Anywhere. I’ll disappear for real this time.
All the nights I spent at Westbridge dreaming of the future I’d have with Harper, holding her in my arms, making her smile, loving her. It was all for nothing.
Everything was for fucking nothing.
I step back, finally letting her go. “Would have been a nice life together. Goodbye, Harper.”
CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT
TYLER
In the distance, Felix emerges from the maze alone, his steps heavy and his expression hollow.
I don’t know what I’d been hoping for—that Harper would be alongside him with their fingers laced and their pain healed by each other. That the three of us could somehow make this work. It was wishful thinking, but I’m so desperate I clung to even the thinnest thread of hope.
I had no idea Felix was returning from Westbridge today. By now, I’m sure Harper has told him she’s pregnant. The pregnancy and engagement weren’t supposed to be dumped on him with no warning. I planned to sit with Felix and explain everything, hoping he’d understand all the decisions I had to make. I hoped we’d come up with a plan on how to keep Harper innocent from knowledge of the murder.
