Wish you were mine

64. A House full of Secrets

PENELOPE

“Adrian? What about him?” Sophie asked.

The color drained from her face so fast it frightened me. A fragile smile curved her lips, but it never reached her eyes. Those eyes—usually sharp and fearless—flickered with something dangerously close to fear.

I swallowed and cleared my throat.
“It’s just… I found out that you and Adrian had a past. Or… something like that,” I stammered.

She went still.

Then she looked at me.

“You mean to ask if we were romantically involved?” she said calmly.
I nodded, suddenly feeling like a child asking a forbidden question.

“Yes,” she answered. “We were. But it’s over. Long ago.”

Her voice was flat. Empty. As if she were talking about the weather instead of the man who had nearly destroyed her.

“But you never told me,” I whispered.

“And you never told me you dated Sean,” she shot back instantly, her gaze sharpening.

I looked down.

“I guess… we’re even.”

A faint smirk touched her lips.

“So all that sneaking out was for him?” I teased weakly, trying to lighten the weight pressing on my chest.

“You noticed?” she asked.

“Of course I did. I’m your sister.”
She exhaled a bitter laugh.

“I was so stupid,” she muttered. “Sneaking around for him… like a crime I committed against myself.”

There was regret in her voice. Raw and unhidden.

Then she looked at me again.

“Did he tell you about us?”

“When we reached the hospital… I saw him covered in blood,” I said slowly. “I thought he had hurt you. I even accused him.”

Before I could finish, Sophie cut me off.

“He would never hurt me."

I raised an eyebrow, surprised.

For someone who claimed to despise him, she was defending him far too fiercely.

“I mean…” she hesitated, “…he has his own twisted rules. His own morals. There are lines he will never cross.”

She fell silent for a moment, then her voice dropped.

“He saved me.”

My breath caught.

“When my car crashed into that truck, I was bleeding. I couldn’t move. I thought I was dying.” Her fingers trembled as they tightened around the blanket. “And then… he appeared. Out of nowhere. He pulled me out of the car just before it exploded.”

My heart pounded.

“If it wasn’t for him, I’d be dead.”

Her eyes softened, distant. “Right before I lost consciousness, I saw his face. Blurred. Bloody. But it was him. That’s the last thing I remember.”

A strange chill ran through me.

“That explains why he said he loved you,” I murmured.

She laughed sharply.

“Love?” she scoffed. “Adrian doesn’t love. He doesn’t even know how.”

Her jaw tightened.

“He’s heartless. Selfish. Dangerous.”