All Chapters of I Married My Mother's Secret Lover : Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

“Your father didn't die in an accident.”For several seconds, I couldn't understand the words that had just come out of Adrian Blackwood's mouth. They were simple words, but my mind refused to accept them, as though rejecting them could somehow return the world to the way it had been yesterday.My father died in a car accident.That was the truth I had grown up with.It was the story that appeared in the newspapers, the one our relatives repeated, and the one people mentioned in hushed voices whenever someone spoke his name. Sixteen years ago, Lucas Hart had lost control of his car on a wet road and died before reaching the hospital. My mother had shown me the police report. She had taken me to his funeral. She had held my hand while we cried beside his grave.There had never been another version.Until now.I looked at Adrian through my veil, barely aware that the priest was trying to continue the ceremony around us.“What did you just say?”Adrian's expression remained controlled, b

“The last thing your father left for you.”Adrian's words hung between us as I stared at him, trying to understand how there could be something my father had specifically left for me that had remained hidden for sixteen years.My father had died when I was eight years old. All that time, I had learned to live with the idea that his absence was a wound that would never completely heal. I kept a few photographs, his old watches, a wooden box filled with birthday letters, and the memories my mother had chosen to tell me, but I had never imagined there was something more.Much less something Adrian had kept for me.“What is it?” I asked.Adrian didn't answer immediately. His gaze remained on me, as though he were trying to decide how much he could say without breaking something that was already too fragile.“There are things you need to know before you open that door.”“I don't want another explanation.”My voice came out firmer than I felt.“I want the truth.”Adrian held my gaze for sev

"You opened it."My mother's voice came through the phone so quietly that for a moment I wondered if I had heard her correctly. I stood in the garden with one hand wrapped around my phone and the other pressed against my stomach, staring at Adrian through the glass doors of the mansion. He was watching me, but he couldn't hear her words from where he stood.I swallowed."How do you know?"There was a long silence on the other end.Then Victoria breathed out slowly."Because Adrian always makes the same mistake."My eyes narrowed."What mistake?""He thinks he can save people by hiding the truth."I glanced at Adrian again. He hadn't moved. His expression was impossible to read, but there was something tense in the way he stood, as though he already knew this conversation was going to change something between us."What are you talking about?"My mother's breathing became uneven."Ask Adrian who your father was really afraid of."A cold feeling moved through me."What does that mean?"B

“Don’t look at me like that, Evelyn.”Adrian’s voice was low, almost a warning, but there was something underneath it that made my heart beat faster than it had any right to.We were alone in the library, surrounded by thousands of books and the soft orange light from the fireplace. I should have been thinking about everything that had happened since the wedding, about my mother, my father, the missing part of his recording and the stranger who had broken into the room with my name on it.Instead, I was thinking about Adrian.More specifically, I was thinking about the way he'd been watching me since dinner.“What way?” I asked.“Like you’re trying to decide whether you hate me or want to understand me.”I swallowed.“Maybe I’m trying to decide whether there’s a difference.”The corner of his mouth lifted.“There is.”I should have looked away.I didn't.For the first time since I married Adrian Blackwood, I wasn't thinking about my mother or my father's death or all the secrets hidde

I stared at the black arrow buried in the wall, unable to make sense of what had just happened. A few seconds earlier, I had been standing beside Adrian, trying to understand why my father had warned him never to let me return to the lake, and now shards of glass covered the bedroom floor while an unfamiliar message hung from a weapon that had come through my window with enough force to kill me.Adrian was still in front of me, one hand braced against the bed as he slowly lifted his head. His breathing was controlled, but I could see the tension in his shoulders, and when his eyes moved from the arrow to me, something inside his expression shifted from fear to anger."Are you hurt?""I'm fine.""Evelyn, look at me.""I said I'm fine."He ignored my protest and came closer, running his eyes over my face, my arms, and the rest of me as though he expected to find blood somewhere. His fingers briefly closed around my wrist, checking my pulse, and the simple touch unsettled me far more tha