After Linton’s jump put him in the hospital, unconscious, Liliana didn’t visit him once.
At home, Mrs. Hart paced back and forth, constantly looking as if she wanted to say something but couldn’t.
“Mom.”
Liliana, curled up on the sofa reading a fashion magazine, spoke without looking up. “If you’re really that worried about... him, just go to the hospital and see him. You don’t need to worry about me.”
Mrs. Hart hesitated, then let out a long sigh. “Liliana, I just feel uneasy.”
“Linton... I mean, he did fall in our yard. He’s all alone in this foreign country, unconscious in the hospital...”
Liliana kept her eyes on the magazine. “Isn’t Lucas with him?” she asked coolly.
Mrs. Hart fell silent at that, but her expression remained conflicted.
She had watched Linton grow up, after all.
She resented him, but she didn’t hate him enough to wish him dead.
Liliana was different.
She just thought he got what he deserved.
She flipped through the magazine. Phoenix’s winter collection had been very well-received. By the end of the year, as the lead designer, she might even get to go up on stage to accept an award.
Mrs. Hart watched her daughter’s impassive, utterly unconcerned demeanor.
After a moment, she sighed again in resignation. “Well, I’ll just call Lucas and ask him how things are.”
Mrs. Hart took her phone and went into the kitchen, closing the door behind her to make the call.
Liliana picked up her own phone and checked the calendar.
After Christmas, it would be the New Year.
She wondered if she’d have a chance to go back home to celebrate this year.
Her expression softened as she thought about it, and she decided to call her older brother.
Gabriel answered almost immediately.


VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABEL
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Too Late, Mr. Cooper: Your Bride Ran with Your Baby