Chapter 7 - MY FATHER’S SECRET
I stared at the photograph.
“No.”
Ethan picked it up.
“Your father knew Mercer?”
“He never told me.”
The image had been taken at a private hospital dinner.
Andrew looked younger.
My father stood beside him holding a champagne glass.
Charles Mercer had one arm around both men.
I called my father again.
He answered immediately.
“Ava—”
“How do you know Charles Mercer?”
Silence.
“How do you know Andrew?”
“Ava, this isn’t a conversation for the phone.”
“That means you’ve been lying to me.”
Ethan stood nearby but gave me space.
My father sighed.
“Andrew treated your mother.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“Near the end.”
Andrew had told me he met my family only after we started dating.
Another lie.
“He was a resident,” my father said. “Mercer supervised him.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Your mother was sick. Things were complicated.”
“Stop saying complicated.”
My voice rose.
“Did you know about Rachel Monroe?”
Another silence.
That was answer enough.
“Oh my God.”
“Ava, listen to me.”
“No. You listen.”
My hands shook.
“Did Andrew hurt her?”
“I don’t know.”
“Did you help bury her complaint?”
“I signed a confidentiality agreement.”
I nearly dropped the phone.
Ethan’s expression darkened.
“You knew.”
“I knew there was an allegation.”
“And you let me marry him?”
“You aren’t married yet.”
The cruelty of that technicality took my breath away.
“You let me get engaged to him.”
“I believed Mercer when he said the allegation was false.”
“Why?”
“Because Andrew saved your mother’s life once.”
I went still.
“What?”
“She had a cardiac event. Andrew caught it.”
Everything suddenly made terrible sense.
My father didn’t see Andrew as dangerous.
He saw him as the young doctor who had given us three more months with Mom.
Andrew had known that.
He had built trust before he ever came near me.
“Dad,” I whispered, “did Andrew ask about me back then?”
My father didn’t answer.
“Dad.”
“Yes.”
My skin crawled.
“He remembered you.”
I ended the call.
Ethan took the phone from my shaking hand.
“He chose me,” I said.
“What?”
“He didn’t randomly meet me at that hospital fundraiser last year.”
Ethan understood immediately.
“He already knew who you were.”
I felt sick.
Andrew had told me our meeting was fate.
It wasn’t.
It was planning.
Then Marcus rushed into the room.
“You need to see this.”
He turned on the television.
Andrew stood outside the police station.
Released without charges pending investigation.
Reporters surrounded him.
He looked exhausted.
Heartbroken.
Perfect.
“I love Ava,” he told the cameras. “I believe she’s being manipulated by a man who has wanted her for a long time.”
The reporters erupted.
Then Andrew looked directly into the camera.
“And Ethan Carter knows exactly what I’m talking about.”
Ethan went still.
I turned toward him.
“What does he mean?”
May you like
Ethan didn’t answer.
And suddenly, I knew he had a secret too.
