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 clung to that pendant to get through

again, her eyes were

"Yeah, I was in prison,

turned pale as

Meryl's past, Bianca also suspected it was

up, she

and couldn't believe

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

really kidnapped Lydia, I could have made her disappear

sharp slap echoed through the

from his study, his

this nonsense right now!"

but Meryl didn't

it when they first grabbed her. Why take her to an abandoned factory? It doesn't add up." The crowd was stunned, eyes widening

at Lydia, who bit

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

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

own

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 help. Bianca sometimes wondered if they had been too harsh. After all, Meryl was

be the only way to set Meryl straight, fearing she would otherwise go down the wrong path. Bianca had reluctantly

had been raised by Camille, who