“Yet you let me think Irene and Nate were still together,” Kaden said.

“I couldn’t have you here before the time was right,” Sylvia said.

“Why not just push them back together?” Kaden asked. “Make everyone forget about their breakup?”

“You loved Irene, and I loved you,” Sylvia said. “I would never do something like that to you.”

Kaden scoffed.

“Besides, it was only temporary. I knew one day your father would die, and you’d come back to me,” Sylvia said.

Not to Irene, not to Addison—to her. Every word out of this woman’s mouth made Irene hate her even more.

“What about me?” Nate asked.

Sylvia sighed. “You’re my son, Nate, but you’re too much like your father. I didn’t know Irene was pregnant then, but if she’d married you, if she’d stayed with you… I couldn’t trust you with any grandchild of mine.”

“But you could’ve used your magic to make the town forget about Dad instead!” Kaden said. “Long before any of this happened.”

Sylvia shook her head. “Our marriage was far too publicized. It wouldn’t matter what I did; the evidence would be out there. Worse, someone might’ve learned the truth about us, and where would that have left our family?”

“And what about what he did to me?” Kaden asked.

“I tried to stop your father—more than once. But he was the kind of man who hurts people. I could make him forget his anger in the moment, but I can’t change a person’s nature,” Sylvia said. “I couldn’t be there every time he decided to hurt you all over again. Only you could do that.”

“I… I don’t understand what’s happening here…” Addison said, shaking her head slowly.

Sylvia patted her arm gently. “It’s okay, dear. Now that everyone has said their piece, I think it’s time we set things right.”

“By you and Nate confessing and going to jail for murder and obstruction of justice?” Quinn said. “Gladly.”

Sylvia shook her head. “You’re so much like your mothers.”

“Thank you,” Quinn said.

“It wasn’t a compliment.” Sylvia turned her focus on Kaden. “Do you really think I’d make it so easy for you to strip my power from me? Didn’t you learn anything from the bourbon you stole?”

Fear blossomed in Kaden’s aura. It gripped Irene’s heart, clawed up her spine until the base of her neck prickled with it.

“Quinn saw you drink the lemonade,” Kaden said.

“I haven’t had a glass of Bonner’s since you tried to turn my own magic against me that summer. I’ve put so many precautions in place to prevent you from doing exactly this.”

“Thank God,” Nate said. “So you can fix this?”