The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 86

Chapter 86

Memory hit me like a truck.

:

Christine, sitting in her room, stroking this exact pendant with tears in her eyes. Little me, maybe six years old, asking what it was.

The slap had come so fast I’d seen stars. “Never speak of this! Never tell anyone you saw this pendant!”

But here it was, hidden in Dad’s things. He must have put it there before the accident, hoping I’d find it someday.

I turned it over and gasped. Engraved on the back: “My Daughter – Health, Joy, Peace”

Tears blurred my vision. Dad had hidden this for me. A gift, a message, something Christine never wanted me to have.

I’d wear it. Keep it close. And someday, when I was free, maybe I’d understand what it really meant.

Three days later, Olivia practically kidnapped me.

“You’ve been cooped up for two weeks,” she announced, barging into my room. “You’re coming with me.”

“Olivia, I can barely-

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“You can sit in a wheelchair while I shop. That’s all I’m asking.” She was already pulling clothes from my closet. “Blake’s at the office, Elizabeth’s at some charity thing. No one will even notice we’re gone.”

She had a point. And God, I needed to get out of this house before I lost my mind completely.

“Fine. But somewhere quiet.”

‘Madison Avenue it is!”

So much for quiet.

We hit the designer boutiques hard. Well, Olivia hit them. I mostly sat in my wheelchair while she held up dresses and shoes I’d never

wear.

“What about this?” She waved a red cocktail dress. “For when you divorce Blake and celebrate your freedom?”

“Olivia-

‘I’m serious! You need a freedom dress. Something that screams ‘I’m single and you can’t touch me anymore.””

I smiled despite myself. “Fine. Get the dress.”

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13:59 Mon, Jun 15

Chapter 86

By noon, we were exhausted and starving. Olivia wheeled me into a quiet French bistro near Central Park.

‘Table for two, Olivia told the hostess. “Preferably somewhere with space for the wheelchair.”

The hostess led us to a corner table with a beautiful view. I was adjusting my position when the pendant slipped out from under my

collar, catching the light.

“That’s pretty, Olivia said. “Is it new?”

“It was my dad’s. I found it in his things a few days ago.”

I tucked it back, but not before noticing someone at a nearby table staring at us. At me.

Richard Grant.

He sat alone, a half-finished meal in front of him. When he saw the pendant, his fork dropped. All the color left his face. His hands gripped the table, knuckles white.

“Aria?” Olivia followed my gaze. “Isn’t that Emma’s father?”

“Yes.”

ร

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Richard stood abruptly, his chair scraping loudly. He walked toward our table like a man in a trance, his eyes never leaving my neckline.

“Mr. Grant,” I said cautiously. “Are you-

“That pendant. His voice shook. “Where did you get it?”

Olivia’s hand moved protectively to my shoulder. “Is there a problem?”

“Please. Richard’s eyes were wild now, desperate. “I need to know where you got that pendant.”

“It was my father’s,” I said slowly. “Aaron Taylor. Why?”

Richard grabbed the edge of our table for support. “Aaron Taylor gave you that?”

“Yes. He left it in his things for me to find.”

“May I…” He swallowed hard. “May I see it?”

Every instinct screamed at me to refuse. But something in his face-the raw shock, the desperate need-made me pull the pendant out.

Richard’s hands trembled as he reached for it. I held it up instead, not letting him touch it.

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13:59 Mon, Jun 15

Chapter 86

He leaned closer, reading the inscription. His face went even paler, if that was possible.

He stepped back, nearly knocking into a waiter. I have to go. I’m sorry, I have to-

He practically ran from the restaurant.

Olivia and I stared at each other.

‘What the hell was that?” she breathed.

“I have no idea.”

ร

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But my hand closed around the pendant, and for the first time since finding it, I felt afraid. What secret had Dad been keeping? And why did Richard look at me like he’d seen a ghost?

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