He stared at me.
“You’re telling me that all this time…”
“Yes.”
“You had money?”
I almost laughed at the smallness of the question.
Money.
Even now, that was the first thing he wanted to understand.
I looked at him steadily.
“I had a life you never bothered to ask about.”
Derek took a shaky step forward.
“Amelia, why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because I wanted to know whether you loved me when you thought I had nothing to offer except myself.”
His eyes filled with something that might have been regret.
Or fear.
I couldn’t tell anymore.
Before he could answer, Patricia hurried toward us.
“Amelia, darling!”
Her entire manner had changed.
She smiled warmly and reached for my hands.
“What a wonderful surprise! Why didn’t you tell us you came from such an extraordinary family?”
I gently stepped back.
She hesitated.
Then smiled again.
