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.

prison, during countless moments of despair, she had clung to that pendant to

she looked up again, her eyes

smiled bitterly and continued, "Yeah, I was in prison,

pale as Meryl admitted her

exposed Meryl's past,

Lydia apologize and try to cover it up, she believed i was just a slip of the

up and couldn't believe she had

to get out of hand, Bianca tried to smooth things over. "Meryl, you've had too much to drink. Let

ago, if I had really kidnapped Lydia, I could have made her disappear without a

slap

from his

this nonsense

cheek stung, but

really wanted to hurt her, they would have done it when they first grabbed her. Why take her to an

through the room as people glanced at Lydia, who bit

years. Now, Meryl was airing their dirty laundry in front of everyone, turning them into 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

out a cold laugh,

her own suffering, this

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

believed this might be the only way to set Meryl straight, fearing she would otherwise go down the wrong

raised by Camille, who had