Chapter 3

Chapter three

Layla

I put my fork down.

“He didn’t get my father the job.”

Every eye near us seemed to shift toward me.

I hated how defensive I sounded.

But I hated the implication more.

“My father was qualified for the position. Taylor forwarded his résumé to someone he knew. He still had to interview for it like everyone else.”

“Of course,” Richard said.

His tone was reassuring.

Vivienne gave a small nod.

“Nobody suggested otherwise.”

No.

They hadn’t.

That was the problem.

Nobody had to.

Taylor reached beneath the table and took my hand.

“I offered,” he said. “Layla didn’t ask me.”

Celeste lifted her glass.

“I didn’t say she did.”

“Then stop making it sound like she did.”

“Taylor,” Evelyn said quietly.

He looked at his mother.

“What?”

“We’re having a conversation.”

“Then talk to her. Don’t talk around her like she isn’t sitting here.”

Silence settled over the table.

My chest tightened.

Taylor’s hand remained around mine beneath the table.

Warm.

Steady.

I loved him for that.

Evelyn looked at me.

“My apologies, Layla.”

“It’s okay.”

It wasn’t.

But I wanted desperately to move on.

A member of staff approached and quietly replaced one of the dishes near Richard.

For several seconds, the interruption saved me.

I concentrated on my plate.

Then the younger woman across from me spoke.

“I’m Sophie, by the way.”

I looked up.

She gave me a small smile.

“Taylor’s sister.”

“Oh.”

I smiled back.

“It’s nice to meet you.”

“You too.”

Her gaze moved briefly toward Vivienne and Celeste before she picked up her fork and returned to her meal.

It was the first interaction I’d had since arriving that didn’t feel like someone was measuring me.

I took another sip of water.

Maybe lunch could still recover.

Evelyn turned the conversation toward the Saint Marie Foundation benefit again, asking Sophie whether she had chosen a dress.

Sophie hadn’t.

Celeste had apparently chosen three.

Richard spoke briefly with Taylor about something unrelated.

Even Harvey became involved when Richard asked about a potential investor attending the benefit.

His answers were short.

Controlled.

Businesslike.

And despite myself, I listened.

Harvey was different when he spoke about work.

Still cold.

Still direct.

But there was an authority to him that made it obvious why everyone listened when he opened his mouth.

Then his eyes shifted.

They met mine.

I looked down at my plate.

I hated that he kept catching me looking at him.

“Your mother doesn’t work?”

Vivienne’s voice pulled my attention back.

I looked at her.

“No.”

“What did she do?”

“She worked in payroll for years.”

“Retired?”

“No.”

I hesitated.

“She had to stop working.”

Evelyn frowned.

“Why?”

I looked at Taylor.

His expression softened immediately.

I turned back to his mother.

“She’s sick.”

The change around the table was subtle but immediate.

Even Vivienne’s expression softened slightly.

“I’m sorry,” Evelyn said. “Is it serious?”

My appetite disappeared.

“It’s a benign tumor.”

Sophie stopped moving.

“Oh, Layla.”

“It’s not cancerous,” I added quickly. “We’re grateful for that.”

“Where is it?” Richard asked.

“In her brain.”

The words still frightened me every time I said them.

Evelyn’s hand moved instinctively toward her chest.

“And it’s affecting her?”

I nodded.

“Her balance mostly. She gets dizzy. Tired. Sometimes she has trouble staying on her feet for long periods.”

“She falls,” Taylor said quietly.

I swallowed.

“Yes.”

Sophie looked horrified.

“Can they remove it?”

“They believe so.”

I paused.

“The problem is where it’s positioned. Her doctors don’t want to attempt the surgery without a specialist who’s dealt with similar cases.”

“Have you found one?” Evelyn asked.

“We have.”

This time, I was the one who said it.

And for the first time since the conversation began, I felt something close to hope.

“He’s exceptional. He reviewed some of her records already, and we’re waiting for the full consultation.”

“That must be a relief,” Richard said.

“It is.”

“It took us months to get him,” Taylor added.

My stomach tightened.

Not again.

Vivienne looked at him.

“You helped arrange it?”

Taylor didn’t seem to notice the significance of the question.

“Yes.”

I lowered my eyes.

“He wasn’t accepting new cases,” Taylor continued. “I knew someone who had worked with him before. They managed to get her records in front of him.”

A silence followed.

I stared at my plate.

There was nothing shameful about accepting help for my mother.

Nothing.

If I had to make the same decision again, I would.

Every single time.

Still, I could feel the atmosphere changing around me.

My father’s job.

My mother’s specialist.

Both roads leading back to Taylor.

“She tried everything before I got involved,” Taylor said.

I looked at him.

He was watching his family now.

Not me.

“We contacted other doctors. Layla spent months trying to find someone who would take the case.”

His voice hardened.

“She didn’t ask me for anything.”

My throat tightened.

“Taylor.”

“No.”

His eyes moved around the table.

“You’re all sitting here adding things up, so add that too.”

Nobody answered.

And for the first time, I realized he could see it as clearly as I could.

The conclusions forming behind polite expressions.

The questions nobody had asked outright.

Vivienne reached for her glass.

“There’s nothing wrong with accepting help, Taylor.”

“No. There isn’t.”

“Especially when someone’s health is involved,” Evelyn added.

I nodded.

“Thank you.”

I wanted that to be the end of it.

Then, for the first time since we’d entered the dining room, Harvey spoke directly into the conversation.

“Who’s paying for the surgery?”

Everything inside me went still.

Taylor slowly turned toward his brother.

Harvey hadn’t raised his voice.

He wasn’t even looking at me.

His attention remained on Taylor.

“Why does that matter?” Taylor asked.

Harvey picked up his water.

“It does when our family’s money is involved.”

Taylor’s jaw tightened.

I looked at Harvey.

Harvey took a drink.

Then he finally looked back.

Cold.

Unapologetic.

Judging.

I understood exactly what he’d thought of me from the moment I walked through the door.