Chapter 5 - The Sister's Revelation
Inside the townhouse in Lincoln Park, the afternoon sun was streaming through the high windows, warming the pale oak floors. Anna sat on the velvet sofa, wearing a soft gray sweatshirt and sweatpants that were slightly too big for her, her fingers tracing the edge of a porcelain mug filled with tea.
The private elevator bell chimed.
Anna jumped, her shoulders tensing instantly out of a habit born from three years of unexpected entries. But when the doors slid open, it wasn't Grant or a man in a dark coat who stepped out.
It was Lily.
Her younger sister was still wearing her wedding traveling suit—a cream-colored wool coat—her eyes red and swollen from a night of crying. She didn't look at the luxury of the apartment; her gaze locked onto Anna's face, specifically the deep purple bruising lining her jaw.
"Anna!" Lily screamed, dropping her designer suitcase onto the floor and running across the room, throwing her arms around her sister's neck. "Oh my God, Anna! What happened to your face?!"
Anna froze for a second, her body unaccustomed to an embrace that didn't carry an implicit threat. Slowly, deliberately, she relaxed into her sister's arms, her tears finally breaking through the dam she had built around her heart.
"Grant told us you took an emergency Uber home because you had a severe panic attack," Lily sobbed, pulling back to hold Anna’s face with trembling hands. "But Ben found Marcus Reed sitting in the country club lounge, and when Ben asked him what was going on, Marcus told him to check the security feeds from the west patio. Anna... we saw it. We saw him hit you."
"I'm sorry, Lily," Anna choked out, her voice breaking. "I ruined your wedding. I ruined your night."
"Are you insane?!" Lily yelled, her tears turning into pure, unadulterated rage. "You didn't ruin anything! He’s a monster, Anna! A complete, disgusting monster! For three years, we thought you were just pulling away from us because you were busy with his high-society charity events! Mom was so hurt because you didn't call on her birthday, but it was him, wasn't it? He was controlling your phone!"
"He threw it against the counter last month," Anna whispered, looking down at her hands. "He told me that if I talked to Mom, I would just depress her with my 'clumsiness'."
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Lily hugged her again, tighter this time. "Dominic’s men brought me here. Ben is downstairs with Marcus right now. They’re coordinating with the bank to make sure Grant can't touch your personal savings account. Anna... Dominic Vale has half the city moving mountains right now just to ensure you never have to look over your shoulder again."
Anna looked past her sister’s shoulder toward the wide glass windows. In the courtyard below, two of Dominic’s security SUVs were idling in the shade, their drivers waiting with the patient, lethal discipline of soldiers guarding a queen. She had run from this world because she thought it was dangerous. But as she felt her sister’s tears against her neck, she realized that the only dangerous world was the one where she had been forced to suffer alone.
