Secret Admiration: Finding True Love After Prison

Chapter 6 Raking up the Past

"Yeah, I did time." Meryl's eyes scanned the crowd, finally landing on Lydia.

Lydia reached out to grab her hand. "Meryl, stop saying that. I just spoke without thinking, okay?"

Meryl pulled back, avoiding Lydia's touch, yanking her hand away.

Suddenly, Lydia stepped on the hem of her dress and fell to the ground.

The fall was hard, and shards from a broken glass on the floor hadn't been cleaned up yet.

Dalton immediately rushed over, pushing through the crowd to help Lydia up.

Her hand was a bloody mess, with shards embedded in her skin.

Dalton's eyes blazed with anger as he glared at Meryl. "Meryl, you never learn! I warned you..."

Meryl's heart skipped a beat. She knew Dalton didn't care about her, but seeing him protect another woman still hurt.

"What did I do? I just pulled my hand away. She fell on her own."

Seeing their hands clasped together, Meryl felt a pang of irony. She lowered her gaze, gently touching a spot on her chest where a pendant hung, a gift from someone long ago.

of despair, she had

again,

"Yeah, I

turned pale as

Meryl's past,

apologize and try to cover it up, she believed i was

grow up and couldn't

had too much to drink. Let them help you upstairs to sober

ago, if I had really kidnapped Lydia, I could have made her disappear without a trace. Why would I leave evidence for you to find

a sharp slap echoed

from his

this nonsense right

but Meryl didn't

they first grabbed her. Why take her to an abandoned factory?

through the room as people glanced at Lydia, who

a spectacle. His one daughter ended up in prison, and the other was nearly assaulted all because of a bitter feud between sisters. It was the kind of scandal that made for juicy

let out a cold laugh, thinking, "Can't handle this,

own suffering, this was

to send Meryl to prison to teach her a lesson because she had refused to admit her mistake, and they thought she was beyond help. Bianca sometimes

Lydia had insisted that being a Stone family member would protect her in prison. They believed this might be the only way to set Meryl straight, fearing she would otherwise go down the wrong path. Bianca had

by Camille, who had also raised a gambling,