Page 85 of Sweet Nothings
“A couple months.” She inhales an unsteady breath. “She’s been going through chemo treatments since before we got married.”
I think back to all the times I saw the vacant, far off, distant look in Laurel’s eye. It grew every day, transforming into something bigger than the day before. It was clear the burden of carrying Roe’s secret was weighing on Laurel.
“But there’s something else I need to tell you.” She swallows, sitting up. She places her hand over mine. I look down at the emerald cut diamond. The stone shimmers, even under the dull hospital lights.
“What is it?” I whisper.
“You often asked why I suddenly changed my mind after turning you down when you first proposed.”
I nod, closing my mouth and letting her answer the one question that’s been on my mind since the day I found her in my office, sitting behind my desk, barefoot.
She looks back down at her hand. “After you proposed the first time, Roe came over to my apartment and told me about her cancer diagnosis. She told me she had the money for her first rounds of chemo treatments but wasn’t sure she’d have enough for the surgery when the time came. I offered her my savings and all the money I had, but she refused. I couldn’t sleep that night.” She traces the back of my hand with her finger, and fresh tears spill, her voice straining as she continues. “Kellan used the trust fund my parents left for me when they died, and Roe had used hers when she and Steven bought their house after they got married. Our family money was running dry.” She turns her head back up to look at me. “But then you messaged me that night, and I found a way to pay for Roe’s surgery without losing my entire savings.”
“By marrying me.” I swallow.
“Yes.” She frowns, her eyes softening. “I didn’t plan on using your money for her surgery. Only my own. But this way I wouldn’t lose everything by doing it. Roe didn’t want that for me. I tried to get her to tell our uncle since he has money, but she quickly shot that down. She didn’t want him to know or anyone else in case the media picked up on the story. She didn’t want our family name to make headlines again, only this time they would be painting her as the victim. First her brother, now cancer. I understood, and if she wanted me to keep a secret, I wasn’t going to deny her that. I would have taken this to my grave if that’s what she wanted.”
I nod and lay my head back against the wall. I can’t explain it. I’m not upset at her for keeping Roe’s cancer a secret. A bond between sisters is something I will never completely understand. But I do have brothers I would do anything for, and I would have done the same if I were in her position.
I’m not naïve in thinking Laurel married me simply because she’d always cared for me in some way. I was cruel to her in the beginning, leading with my cold, black heart. It was easier to lure the dark side of me out while keeping the scared and vulnerable side in.
But I’m in love with Laurel—I always have been—and seeing her this way, knowing she’s going through the same pain with her sister that I was in with my mother, makes this black heart of mine shatter into a million tiny pieces. I want to take her pain away, but I know I can’t. That’s the thing about cancer. It doesn’t give a shit about you. It takes and takes until there’s nothing left in its wake.
“I’m sorry, Laurel,” I say, rolling my head back down to her. I rest my thumb on her mascara-streaked cheek.
“What are you sorry for?” Her eyebrows tightly knit. “I’m the one who married you for money.”
“So did I,” I retort, a fact that tastes sour on my tongue.
“True.”
“But I am still sorry.”
“For agreeing to marry me for money?”
“No.” I draw an invisible line down the side of her face. “I’m sorry your sister is sick, and you’ve spent the last few months having to carry that secret alone.”
Her bottom lip quivers as tears spill over her red-lined lashes. It’s written on her face, her love for me. But I told her I didn’t want her telling me until she was ready. Until she felt like her soul was free. Although her secret is out now, it doesn’t manipulate the facts. Her sister is dying, and there’s nothing she can do. All I can do now is be there for her.
“Thank you.” She sobs, but I catch her breath with a kiss.
I hook my fingers under her chin and lift her face to mine. I gently press my mouth to hers.
She cries against me, her mouth turning down against mine. Her lips part as she gasps for air, sobbing. I wrap my hand around her face, and she places hers over mine.
I want to wrap my entire body around hers—anything to comfort her and make her feel safe.
But I can’t.
After our kiss, she pulls my hand away from her and stares down at the dried blood. She traces the bruises and still-open cuts.
“We should get this looked at,” she says, swinging her eyes up to mine. “Now’s the perfect time considering we’re in a hospital.”
I shrug, the corner of my mouth tilting to a smirk. Despite the cloud of darkness looming over us, I still see light.
“Mrs. Harding?”
Laurel and I both snap our heads to the other side of the hall. A doctor with a white lab coat steps out of Monroe’s room. He gently allows the door to shut behind him.