Being hurt did not excuse hurting someone else.
But now I could see the shape of the trap around her too.
“You knew about the dress,” I said.
“Yes.”
“You knew I didn’t want it.”
“Yes.”
“You agreed anyway.”
Tears filled her eyes.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her gaze moved toward my mother.
Then back to me.
“Because I spent my whole life believing being wanted was something you had to earn.”
The words entered me slowly.
Lila wiped her cheeks.
“When Vivian found me, I thought every door had finally opened. She introduced me to people. She helped my career. She told me she was proud of me.”
Mom whispered, “I am.”
Lila ignored her.
“When she asked me to use your wedding for Harbor Light, I knew it was wrong. But every time I considered saying no, I remembered what it felt like to be twenty-nine years old and finally hear my mother say she was proud.”
I looked at the screen.
At the frozen image of Lila smiling beside the gown.
“Then why was the recording on the memory card?”
Silence.
Lila’s expression changed.
Mom looked at her.
So did Elena.
Something passed between them.
My heart began beating harder.
“Lila?”
She closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, there was fear there.
But also relief.
“Because I put it there.”
Nobody spoke.
I stared.
“What?”
“The memory card.”
My entire mind seemed to stop.
Lila swallowed.
“It wasn’t an accident.”
Mom looked genuinely stunned.
“You did what?”
Lila turned toward her.
“You kept telling me Claire would never fight back.”
My mother’s face went white.
“You said once the ceremony started, she would smile and swallow it like she always did.”
Lila looked back at me.
“I believed you.”
My throat tightened.
“Then why give me the recording?”
“Because I needed to know if she was right.”
The answer was almost unbearable.
Lila stepped closer.
“I was too much of a coward to stop it myself. I knew pieces of what she had done. Not everything. I knew the agreement was questionable. I knew money had come from a family trust. I knew your consent wasn’t clear.”
“Not clear?”
“I know.”
She flinched.
“I know how pathetic that sounds.”
It did.
But she kept going.
“I copied the files. I put the card beneath the earrings. I thought if you found them, one of two things would happen.”
“What?”
“You would confront Vivian privately and she would talk you out of it…”
Lila’s eyes flickered toward the discarded gown.
“…or you would finally do something she couldn’t control.”
My mother stared at her daughter.
“You sabotaged me.”
Lila’s expression hardened.
“No.”
Her voice steadied.
“I gave Claire the truth. She decided what to do with it.”
For the first time all day, my mother had no response.
Elena did.
“Your father would have liked that distinction.”
I looked at her.
Something occurred to me.
“The envelope.”
“Yes?”
“You brought it today because of the video?”
Elena hesitated.
Then smiled faintly.
“No.”
“Then why?”
She nodded toward the inside pocket of the envelope.
“There’s one final page.”
I nearly laughed.
“Of course there is.”
Daniel murmured, “At this point I’m afraid it’ll say I’m secretly royalty.”
Despite everything, I laughed.
The sound spread strangely through the room.
Even Nora snorted.
I reached inside.
One folded sheet remained.
It wasn’t legal paperwork.
It was another note from Dad.
Much shorter.
Claire,
If Martin decides this packet needs to reach you, I’m guessing your mother has once again mistaken control for protection.
That sounds harsh.
I loved Vivian.
I expect part of me always will.
But love does not make someone harmless.
I stopped.
My eyes filled.
Daniel put his arm around me.
Dad continued:
If the truth about Lila ever comes between the two of you, remember this: neither of you created the secret. Neither of you owes the other an apology for being born.
