“I just can’t believe he did that to you...”
Eve felt like she was waking from a dream as Janelle's voice eventually penetrated her thoughts.
"Like, how?"
It seemed as if Janelle had been talking all this time, but the empty hole in her heart had blocked everything out, and Eve hadn't heard a single thing.
“I know he’s my cousin, but he can be so cruel when he’s hurt,” Janelle continued, her voice soft with apparent sympathy. “He always sees things in black and white.”
No, Eve thought painfully. Hunter wasn’t cruel. He never was, not even when she had been difficult during her rebellious years.
“How can he not see what really happened?” Janelle sighed, her hands delicate on the steering wheel. “Anyone with eyes could tell Matt attacked you.”
Hunter would never be cruel deliberately.
“I can’t believe he’d throw you out like this without hearing your side. After everything you’ve been through together these past few weeks.”
He just...didn’t trust her.
“How could he forget you’re homeless? Broke? You still haven’t found a job, have you?” Janelle shook her head sadly. “This is just like that thing about Midnight eight years ago—”
Eve froze.
“He didn’t have any proof you did it. You never admitted to anything. How could you have known the stall would be unlocked unless—” Janelle broke off when she noticed Eve staring at her.
“What is it, Eve?”
The concern in the other woman’s tone made her want to cry...
Janelle signaled and pulled onto the shoulder of the highway, the gravel crunching beneath the tires. “Are you okay?”
Because this was the first time she realized everything was fake.
“What are you getting from this, Janelle?” she asked shakily.
Hunter’s cousin blinked, her blue eyes wide with apparent confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Mom told me that Hunter had everyone at the ranch sign an NDA.” Eve’s voice grew stronger as pieces fell into place. “No one was to know about what happened to Midnight.”
Because even then, even when he had blamed her for what happened to his beloved stallion, he hadn’t wanted to take any chances and have anyone talk about it and cause trouble for her.
“Well, of course Hunter told me. I’m family—”
“Hunter doesn’t lie.”
“Oh, Eve.” Janelle’s voice took on a patronizing edge. “You’re obviously in love with my cousin, and I understand. But he’s not perfect—”
Eve shook her head. “Just tell me why—"
"What the fuck, Eve? Are you actually calling me a liar?"
The Janelle she knewnevercursed. But maybe...she had never really known Janelle. At all.
"What do you think my cousin would do when I tell him about this conversation? Especially after everything? You're nothing to him now while I'm his only family—”
Everything became clear as soon as she heard those words.
“You wanted to get rid of me,” Eve whispered, her heart pounding in her chest, “because if I became his wife, you think you'll no longer inherit anything.”
