“When she told me that she’d slept with my husband, I saw red. It didn’t matter that it happened all those years ago. She was my best friend. How could she have done that to me? How could she have lied to me all those years, betrayed me, pretending everything was normal? I was out of my mind. I pushed her. She fell. Backward against the coffee table. She wasn’t breathing. And there was so much blood. I knew she was dead. Oh God . . . forgive me.” She began to sob, her hands in a prayerful pose and her small body heaving. “I panicked. I thought if it looked like a robbery . . . I don’t know. That’s when I took the bracelet. Smashed a window. And then I took a bookend from the shelf and hit her on the head. Oh dear God, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to kill her. It was an accident. I didn’t mean it.” She was hysterical now.

Kate doubled over, gasping for breath. Georgina had killed her mother? The image of Georgina smashing her mother’s head in flashed in her mind. “How could you?” She flew from her seat and grabbed Georgina by the shoulders, shaking her. She felt arms pulling her away. Kate lifted her hands to her face, and it was wet with tears.

Detective Anderson picked his coat up from the chair. “Please come with me, Mrs. Hathaway.”

32

Blaire was preparing to go back to New York. Despite Anderson’s best efforts and Kate’s statements, he didn’t have enough evidence to make an arrest. Blaire had denied everything, claiming Kate had made it all up. Simon was still in jail when Blaire left, but the next day, she heard on the news that he’d been released. He’d actually been innocent. Well, innocent of Lily’s murder anyway. Blaire didn’t regret what she’d done, though. After all, he’d still been cheating on Kate. And more important, he was the reason Blaire had lost Lily all those years ago. Simon had been responsible for taking away the only real mother Blaire ever had. There was no punishment harsh enough for that.

Kate had refused to take any of her calls, but Blaire was surprised to get a message from Harrison at the hotel, asking her to meet him at Baltimore Coffee and Tea the next morning. He was already there when she arrived, and she grabbed a latte and joined him in the corner.

“Hello,” she said carefully, not knowing what to expect.

He nodded. “Blaire, I called you out of respect for Lily. If it were up to me, I would never see you after what you’ve done.”

She stirred her coffee and waited for him to continue.

“I won’t beat around the bush. I’ve discovered who your father is.”