A secret built in lies

Chapter 04.

Evelyn's POV 

"Baby, are you okay?"

Angelo's voice cut through the ringing in my ears, and I forced my spine straight before the silence could stretch into something he'd start asking real questions about.

"Oh, yeah, baby, I'm fine," I said, already crouching to gather the shattered porcelain scattered across the floor. "Don't mind me. Clumsy hands tonight."

My fingers trembled as I picked up each shard, my mind racing far faster than my hands could move.

Silverlake.

Why was he going back to Silverlake?

 Nothing about this made sense, and the nonsense of it terrified me more than if it had made perfect, predictable sense.

I swept the broken pieces into a small bag, stood, smoothed my hair back into place, and turned to face them both with a smile stitched carefully across my mouth.

"I'm so sorry," I said. "When I heard Silverlake, I just remembered a friend of mine who went through something terrible there. It caught me off guard for a second."

Angelo smiled, easy and unsuspecting as always, and Miguel smiled too, that same infuriating calm settled across his face like he hadn't just detonated a bomb in the middle of my carefully constructed life.

I stared at him, wondering how a man could be this skilled at pretending, how he could drop a name like that and not flinch once.

 I was almost certain he'd said it on purpose, though for the life of me I couldn't understand what he hoped to gain from baiting me this way.

"So," Miguel said, leaning back in his chair, "is there anything I should know? Anything to be careful about, going there?"

My fists curled beneath the table. 

He was pushing, deliberately or not, and I wasn't sure how much longer I could hold this composure together without it cracking down the middle.

 "Not really," I said, forcing my voice light. "I'm not even sure what's left in Silverlake worth knowing about."

Our eyes held for a beat too long, and there it was again, that flicker behind his gaze the second the name left my mouth. 

"Then why don't you tell me," I pressed, "why you're going? Maybe I can help."

He nodded slowly. "Nothing serious. Just something personal, I need to go confirm something out there..."

Confirm something?

The words looped through my mind on repeat. 

Was this about Ethan?

Had he already pieced something together from one hug, one glance, one careless mention of a drawing? 

Men like Miguel didn't chase ghosts for sentiment.

 If he suspected Ethan was his, he wouldn't let it rest until he knew for certain, and the thought of him digging through Silverlake's past sent ice through my veins.

"Well," I said, rising unsteadily from my chair, "good luck with that."

I didn't wait for a response. 

I walked straight to the kitchen, gripped the edge of the counter, and told myself to breathe.

 Calm down. 

There is no way he is coming to take what I built. 

I pulled out my phone and dialed the only person who had survived every version of this story with me.

My best friend, Caroline.

Caroline picked up on the second ring. "Hey, girl. What's popping?"

"We have a problem," I said, my voice shaking despite every effort to steady it. "Angelo's best friend came over for dinner tonight. It's Miguel."

"Wait, wait, wait," Caroline said. "Miguel? That bitch?"

"That bitch," I confirmed. "And he's not making this easy, Caroline. He mentioned going to Silverlake to confirm something and I'm scared."

"Confirm what? Did he not recognize you?" She asked.

"That's the thing," I said, pacing the kitchen tile. "His face was completely calm. Even when Angelo said my name out loud, he didn't react. It was like I never existed to him at all."

Caroline sighed through the phone. "I'm not surprised. These rich men are too good at faking it, especially when they never took you seriously to begin with."

"You're right," I whispered, "and I'm so confused right now. Miguel cannot take Ethan from me. Ethan is my life, Caroline. He's the reason I'm still standing, and I will not let a man who was never there for him walk in and take him now." I pressed my palm against my forehead. "And Angelo. I've lied to him about so much. What happens if he finds out the truth?"

"Come over," Caroline said gently. "Let's talk this through properly."

"Okay," I said. "Thank you."

I ended the call, grabbed my bag, and forced my expression back into something resembling calm before walking out to where Angelo and Miguel sat finishing their wine..

 "Hey, babe," I murmured to Angelo, bending toward him. "Caroline's having a rough night. I'm going to check on her."

"Alright," he said easily. "Take care."

"I might not come back tonight," I added.

He grinned. "Guess I'll be mommy and daddy duty solo tonight, then." He laughed, pulling me down for a quick goodbye kiss.

"This isn't fair," Miguel said, his voice light with tease. "I don't get a goodbye kiss?"

He said it as a joke, clearly, but something in my chest tightened painfully anyway.

 "You had plenty of chances for that," I said coolly, "and you lost every single one."

Miguel ducked his head, and for the briefest second, something flickered across his expression that looked almost like real hurt. 

Angelo laughed loudly, oblivious to the weight beneath the words.

"Women," he said, shaking his head. "They never admit when we are wrong. I can tell her statement was about leaving Victoria." He laughed.

"Exactly! Fighting for her fellow woman! Number one rule for keeping a woman," Miguel said, lifting his glass with a faint smile, "never accept you're right either."

They clinked glasses and laughed together, and I turned and walked out before my expression could betray exactly how furious I was.

The drive to Caroline's apartment took barely ten minutes. 

The moment she opened the door, I stepped inside without waiting for an invitation.

"Drink?" she offered.

"No," I said sharply. "I don't want a drink, Caroline. He's going to Silverlake. What am I supposed to do?"

She studied me for a long moment. "If you let him go to Silverlake and he finds out about Ethan, and then tells Angelo before you ever get the chance to explain yourself, the damage will be irreversible. There won't be any version of this where you come out clean."

I sighed heavily, dropping onto her couch. "You're right. So what do I do?"

"It's strange," she said slowly, sitting beside me, "that he acted like he didn't know you at all."

"Look, Caroline," I said, rubbing my temples. "This is the entire problem laid out in front of you. What do you think I should actually do?"

She was quiet for a moment before her eyes lit with sudden resolve. "The only solution is for us to go to Silverlake also."

I stared at her. "He's going there. What if he sees me?"

"Listen," she said, leaning forward. "You know he's the type to put on a fake personality the second he sets foot there. He'll travel by transport, so we drive early morning and take the back route. We get there before he does, talk to the doctor about clearing your old records from ten years ago, and pay off Miss Landra so she keeps her mouth shut. He'll show up looking like nothing, and she won't tell a stranger anything worth knowing."

I nodded slowly, though my stomach twisted with unease. "What are the chances he will actually see me there?"

Caroline looked at me for a long, heavy moment, her expression far less certain than herwords had been.

 "Let's just pray he doesn't," she said quietly. "Because if he does, there's no telling how crazy this is about to get."