Secrets of Us A Forbidden Love Romance (Alina)

Chapter 222

A Long Story-1

I'm trembling.

It's subtle, mostly in my hands, the way my fingers twist together in my lap like they're trying to braid my nerves into something useful instead of completely destructive.

I can feel my nerves everywhere. In the pit of my stomach. In the tightness in my chest. Even my heartbeat feels wrong, like it's trying to outrun this moment.

The sitting room is like nothing I've ever seen before. Like from a movie. If I thought Jake was rich, this is a whole new awakening.

Tall ceilings. Gilded crown molding. Paintings on every wall, some classic, some modern, all expensive. Everything smells like lilies and lemon polish. Like wealth.

I sigh, dropping my eyes to the woman sitting in front of me.

Elena Hanson. My aunt.

She sits across from me in an armchair that probably costs more than everything I've ever owned in my entire life. She's dressed in a cream silk blouse and navy trousers, her heels tucked neatly under her chair. Her dark hair is swept back, not a strand out of place, and her lipstick is the exact same shade of mauve that used to stain the edges of my grandmother's teacups in the only photo I have of her.

She looks like someone important.

And she looks like him.

cheekbones, the slope of her nose, the almond shape of

look just like your grandmother when she was younger. I have

mouth moves before my fear can

never

met you before?"

the

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A Long Story-1

over her knees. "Because I was a coward. Young,

obviously younger than your father," she says quietly. "His little sister. I adored him. Still

down on my cheek so I don't

Diana, our parents, they didn't take it well. Old money. Old minds. They'd chosen someone for him, someone

toward one of the paintings on the far

him he could stay in the family or

her. He chose her."

spreads through me.

smiles, her voice soft. "Of course he chose her. He loved her

spins, my confusion spreading. "He never mentioned that.

long

"I don't blame him. They were terrible to