She didn’t have to explain the meaning behind the sentences. She and Baines had separated years ago, for the first time, after only a few months of marriage. He’d immediately settled in and started focusing every minute on the business while she wrestled with bar exam preparations and nagging doubts about them as a couple. And Liam was there. He was always there, and for so long she’d pretended not to know how he felt about her . . . or that she fought an unexpected tug in the same direction.

Two months. That’s how long the separation back then lasted, how long she secretly spent every moment she could with Liam instead of her husband.

“No one knows. I don’t know how . . . or why. The fact they—whoever they are—went after Kennedy is terrifying. It shows they don’t have any boundaries.” She kept talking, letting the words tumble out. Anything to get a hint of relief before her entire world collapsed on top of her. “They had to . . . I don’t know. Invade my privacy? Find my medical records, somehow. I’d been so careful. So—”

The stool screeched against the hardwood floor as Liam pushed back and stood up. “You promised me.”

He cut through all her nonsense babbling and dove straight to the point she ached to avoid. She never realized how much she’d tamped down and pushed away to keep this secret, how much energy this lie sucked up, until that moment. But his face. That pained expression. She’d done that to him.

“I know,” she said in a whisper.

“When you found out you were pregnant, I came to you. We sat down, and you promised me—”

“I lied.” She’d invented a complicated story about birth control and timing, and Liam had bought it. He’d depended on her to be honest, and she’d used the trust built up over a lifetime against him.

“Kennedy is . . .”

“Your daughter.” God, she’d never said it out loud before. Not those words. She waited for relief to rush in, but there was no room right now.

“My . . .” He stumbled back before regaining his balance. “Jesus, Gabby. Why would you keep that from me?”

“My choice wasn’t about you.”

“Bullshit.”

She rushed to explain, even though she knew the words wouldn’t be enough. “You and Baines jointly shared responsibility for your sister. She’d stopped leaving the house, and her health spiraled. She needed both of you and . . . and . . . I knew if I told you that the battle would be devastating and you two wouldn’t have worked together to help her or the business.”

She’d convinced herself she was protecting the family unit. All of them. A disastrous choice that made her silently resent Baines. Seeing him after being with Liam cracked the sheen and uncovered who her husband really was and what he was willing to do to get what he wanted.