“Bigamy is illegal in every state.” She answers.
My eyes drop to her ring finger and see a massive diamond on it. “So, you got a divorce and married someone else?” I nod. “Not sure why that was so important.” I remember Tyson and Matt discussing once a Lord dies, his Lady is given to a new Lord. I wonder if she requested my father since Ryat killed her husband last year, now that Valerie is dead also.
“I’ve only ever been married to one man, Blakely.” She opens another drawer and pulls out a picture, placing it on the desk in front of me.
Picking it up, I see it’s a younger version of her, but it looks like me. The guy she’s standing next to is my father. “I … no.” I shove it away. “You were married to the man Ryat killed.” I can’t remember his name. not sure anyone ever even told me that information.
She tilts her head to the side. “Your father’s marriage to Valerie was the lie. It was never legal because we were already married.”
I run a hand through my hair. “Why does this fucking matter?”
“Because I want you to know the truth.”
I snort. “Nothing is true. All I’m told are lies.”
“You think I left you behind because of your father. I left you because the Lords called me. And you never, ever tell them no.”
“Why would they tell you to leave him?” I scoff. I know the Lords have to obey their oath, but I’ve never been told that a Lady has to do with that.
“Because Nathaniel Myers was my assignment.”
My spine stiffens at her answer.
“An assignment that ended up lasting much longer than it should have. That’s why I had the hit put out on him. I was done and needed it to end.”
Swallowing, I shift in my seat. “Still not sure what this has to do with me.”
“Men come and go, Blakely. But your child? That’s where they get you. These Lords prefer arranged marriages because they refuse to fall in love with their wives because that’ll show weakness.” She snorts. “Men can get pussy anywhere. Woman can get dick anywhere. It’s the kids that makes us savages. You have already proven that with how you handled Valerie at the confessional. You took her threat of taking your child personally.”
I admit that I panicked after what I did set in. But if I had a chance to redo it, would I? Absolutely. In a heartbeat. “Is that what you plan on doing? Force me to do what you want or take my child?”
“Of course not.” She snorts as if that’s absurd. “I just want you to understand that I did what I had to do … for you.”
I slam my hands on the desk. “Quit lying to me!” Getting to my feet I lean over it. “You haven’t been around for twenty years! None of what you did was for me.”
She leans back in her seat crossing one leg over the other, not fazed by my outburst. “Ryat.”
My husbands’ name on her painted red lips makes my heart beat faster. “What about him?”
“That was me.” She tilts her head to the side.
“No.” I refuse to believe that. “Dad …”
“Valerie signed you up for a chosen in order to pay off her debt to Matt for killing me. But how do you think you ended up with Ryat?”
I fall into my seat. “Dad made him choose …”
“I made that decision.”
No. It can’t be. My father told me that he knew Ryat was the better choice. He was saving me from Matt. But my father has lied to me more than once. This woman who says she’s my biological mother has no reason to lie to me, right? “Why?” I’ll bite.
“I saw how he was that night. He got in, got the job done and he never told a soul about what Matt did. Or tried to do. That’s a great Lord.”
I roll my eyes. “I’m so tired of the fucking Lords.”
“And Janett?” She laughs. “Did you really think that woman was going to hire you? You had no experience. No ID, money. Nothing. Not to mention you were underage.” She holds her hands out wide. “I made sure that she took you in.”
“No,” I whisper. My father was mad when I got back. “No one knew where I was.” If she was aware where I was, then my father would have known. He would have never let me stay away as long as they did.
“Oh, I did. Of course, I kept that to myself.” She gives me a smile. “I wanted to see just how far Ryat would go to find you. He didn’t disappoint. That’s when I knew I had made the right choice.”
I sit frozen, listening to her. How much this bitch orchestrated everything. It played out like a game to her. “And the fact that dad and Mr. Archer wanted Ryat to confess to what Matt had planned on doing to you?” I question. It doesn’t make sense. When I was in the hospital, dad wanted Ryat to confess. If they knew LeAnne was alive, then they already knew the truth about what Matt did that night.