2
I thought back to last night, when Howard had wrapped his arm around me. “Darling.” he’d murmured, “haven t you always wanted a daughter? A dear friend of mine in Europe passed away, leaving his only daughter all alone. She’s coming back to the States. Why don’t we adopt her? She could live with us, be the daughter you
never had.”
My sons, Adrian and Jack, had been there too, chiming in enthusiastically. “Yeah, Mom! Her name is Sienna. She’s amazing with adults. You’ll love her.”
Ha. Oh, yes. Wonderful.
The three most important men in my life were conspiring to stab me in the back.
No wonder my eldest son, Adrian, had stormed home this morning and had a vicious fight with Olivia, grabb ing her by the throat, his eyes bloodshot. “Sienna went missing right after her plane landed! Did you have her kidnapped?”
I’d rushed in, telling him to let go, asking if there had been some misunderstanding.
But Howard had pulled me aside, his anger even greater than our son’s. “What misunderstanding could there be? Olivia, tell us right now! Where did you take Sienna?”
Chapter 1
12:46
It all made sense now. Of course Howard was more frantic than his own son. Sienna was the daughter of his
one true love.
A flood of memories washed over me. I remembered a conversation between Adrian and Jack when they
were five,
“Daddy, can Sienna’s mommy be our mommy?”
“I really want Sienna’s mommy to be our mommy.”
“Then Sienna could be our sister and live with us!”
“We want to play with Sienna and protect her forever.”
I had asked them then, “Who’s Sienna?”
I remembered Howard’s stern face as he reprimanded them. “Don’t talk nonsense!” Then he’d turned to me, his voice strained. “Just the daughter of a friend from abroad. She’s adorable, and these two rascals took one look and are already fighting over who gets to be her big brother.”
I had ignored how his eyes darted away, how his voice was laced with guilt.
How utterly laughable.
I had sacrificed my career, my ambitions, everything, for these three men. And this was how they repaid me?
I felt as if all the strength had been drained from my body. I swayed on my feet. I looked at my two daughters -in–law, who saw the world with such brutal clarity. When your man loves you, you shop. When he doesn’t, you
pack your bags and go.
In that moment, I felt like the biggest fool in the world.
Fearing they would think I was too old and refuse to take me, I made a decision. “Howard has a safe in his study,” I said, my voice firm. “Inside, there are one hundred 500–gram gold bars. If you take me with you, I’ll go empty it right now. From now on, whatever you want to eat, drink, or buy, it’s on me.”
