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.

countless moments of despair, she had clung to

she looked up again, her eyes were

continued, "Yeah, I was in prison, but

turned pale as

Meryl's past,

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

grow up and

smooth things over. "Meryl, you've had too much to drink. Let them help you upstairs to sober

could have made her disappear without a trace. Why would I leave evidence for you

slap echoed through

his study, his face

nonsense

but Meryl

had minor injuries. If those men really wanted to hurt her, they would have done it when they first

at Lydia, who

spectacle. His one daughter ended up in prison, and the other was nearly assaulted all because

laugh, thinking,

her own suffering, this

to be quiet. Three years ago, they had 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

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

raised by Camille, who had also raised a gambling,