Chapter 37

"Oh, she has taken her leave, I see!" Elenora's voice came out feather-light and deceptively kind, though she failed to mask the sigh of palpable relief that slipped out.

Hunter's gaze then shifted to Martha, his eyes studying her with newfound curiosity before voicing his nagging question. "Martha, you never mentioned having a stepsister before. Was she at our wedding? Have I perhaps met her before?"

There had always been a sense of déjà vu lingering around Christine, but after failing repeatedly to pinpoint why she seemed familiar, he had cast it aside.

'Not at the wedding, but in the hotel room on our wedding night,' Martha's inner voice bitterly reminded her. Christine had been the first to lay claim to what was supposed to be hers, and she, Martha, had handed him to her rival on a silver platter.

"No, she didn't attend the wedding, and you didn't meet her before. As I recall, she said she had other commitments," Martha explained, trying to keep her voice steady. "Our shared hi