It was a warning.

    Even if Carm refused to speak, Frank could discover the truth with a single phone call.

    But Carm was his mother–she knew his temperament all too well. With a sigh, she gave in and told the truth. “It was finalized before the

    New Year.”

    “Before the New Year?” Frank’s jaw tightened, his voice cold as ice. “At Grandma’s birthday party, I distinctly remember telling you to stay out of my business with Elissa, didn’t I?”

    “|—”

    Carm drew a deep breath, bracing herself. “The divorce papers were already signed by then.”

    Frank finally understood just how far his dear mother had gone in meddling with his life.

    A bitter, mockingugh rumbled from his chest. “Your connections really do run deep, don’t they?”

    “What do you think you’re going to do?” The realization hit Carm, her voice suddenly edged with panic. “Frank, I’m your mother! Are you really going to turn against me over a woman?”

    Frank was now running the Atwater Group, while his grandmother still managed the family’s socialwork. All Carm had left was a handful of those connections–if Frank cut her off, she’d be left with nothing but the title of Mrs. Atwater.

    He nced back through the floor–to–ceiling windows toward the living room, his voice frosty and devoid of feeling. “You’re the one who interfered in my private life.”

    “And that’s somehow my fault?” Carm couldn’t help but snap.

    12:10

    How was she supposed to know her son would take such meticulous care of Marcia, while refusing to divorce Elissa? Or that Elissa, of all people, would turn out to be the woman who had once saved their lives?

    “If you hadn’t been tangled up with your sister–inw this whole time, I wouldn’t have worried you’d divorce Elissa behind my back and immediately marry Marcia, dragging our family into the scandal of a man marrying his widowed sister–inw! Did you ever think of that? Do you me me?”

    Her usations made Frank pause.

    Then Carm’s next wordsnded with a cruel precision: “And for the record, I wasn’t the one who forced Elissa to leave. She asked for the divorce herself! You’re the one who made her want out of this marriage in the first ce!”

    The spring sunrise was gentle, yet dazzling.

    Elissa waited for a while, and when Frank still didn’t appear, she found herself ncing toward the backyard.

    He was still on the phone. Whatever the person on the other end had said, it made his usually straight–backed posture visibly slump–as if something had struck him down in an instant.

    She rarely saw him look like that.

    But this marriage–everything that had led them here–was his doing. Whatever the oue, he deserved to face it.

    Edna, watching Elissa ignore her bowl of nourishing soup, asked with concern, “Would you like a little extra honey?i” /i

    She remembered Elissa’s sweet tooth.

    “No, thank you.” Elissa shook her head. Not wanting to waste it, she picked up the bowl and drank it down.

    She was exhausted after a sleepless night and the emotional drain of it

    all, but she didn’t realize just how hungry she was until that first spoonful warmed her from the inside.

    12:10

    She finished quickly and had just set the bowl down when the room seemed to dim–a tall figure cast a shadow over her.

    Frank pulled a napkin and gently dabbed her lips, his tone unexpectedly tender. “Why are you in such a rush? It’s not good for your stomach.”

    He was so gentle, it was as if nothing had happened between them.

    Elissa leaned away, dodging his touch, and got straight to the point. “You must have gotten your answer by now. Can I leave?”

    “No.”

    12:10