Samuel rushed to Ember's apartment after getting her call. He was worried about Kali. Especially since his sister told him she had called her, sounding panicked and distressed. He didn't know how the conversation with Richard went, but he wasn't sure he even wanted to know.

"Where is she?"

"Sleeping." Ember let him into the apartment. "I gave her a hot cup of tea and some sleeping pills. She needed the rest."

"Thank you."

"Come on."

She led him to the guest room and opened the door. Samuel went to her. He knelt and touched her head hesitantly. She looked better than when she left the house. There was that, at least.

"Let her sleep," Ember whispered, holding the door open and signalling him out.

They went to the living room, and she left to get him some water. Samuel stretched out on the couch. He threw his arm over his eyes and listened to the noise as Ember moved around.

"Here. Drink this."

He peeked from under his arm and shook his head. "I am fine."

"It's cold. It will help."

"I mean it. I am fine." He sat up but still didn't take the glass. "What would make me feel better is talking to you."

"Me?" She smiled, setting the glass down.

"Yes. I want to tell you something, but promise you'll forgive me and not be mad."

"Before or after you tell me?"

"Before."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. It's important, and I need your help. Plus, I don't want to lie anymore."

"But you won't tell me unless I forgive you?"

"Yeah, and Kali, too."

"Kali is involved in this? Is that why she was like that today?"

"She is. And yes."

"That's not fair. I need to know what it is before I start handing out forgiveness. I mean, is it bad?"

"I don't even know anymore. But call it even since you won't tell me about Peter. And I forgave you for that."

"That's not fair."

"Yeah, so is keeping Peter's secret for him even after you promised to tell me. Do we have a deal or not?" She bit her lip and nodded stubbornly. "I don't need a head shake. I want to hear it."

She huffed. "I promise not to be mad at you or Kali. I promise to forgive you whatever it is that you say."

"Kali and I are in a relationship."

A heavy second passed. "Are you kidding me? What am I supposed to forgive about that."

"No, sorry, bad way to start. Kali and I are in a relationship. When we married we didn't love each other. The first day I met was the day I asked her to marry me."

"I am not understanding. You said you broke up with Flora because you had been seeing Kali for three months."

"I lied."

"W-why?"

"Mom asked me to."

"Since when did you care to do such a thing for her?"

Samuel slapped the back of his head. If he needed to do this, he needed to say everything at a go because taking things one by one would only agitate Ember.

"Giovanna was right about what she heard, and she has been accusing Kali of, but not in the way she thinks. Mom threatened both of us to get married. It was either that or I lost Flora to prison, and Kali lost her family home and inheritance. So, we agreed to get married. We didn't know how long or why she wanted us to be married."

"Oh my God. You've been lying. All this time, you've been lying to us. To me."

"I couldn't tell you the truth. That was one of mom's rules."

"Bullshit."

"Ember!" She was angry.

"You are telling me now. What stopped you the other three hundred and whatever days you guys have been married."

"I love her now. We are together, and Mom noticed it. She warned, and we tried to keep it a secret, but now she knows, and she is going after Kali. I don't know what else she has planned, but I don't want to see Kali suffer anymore."

Ember glanced down the hallway towards the bedroom door. He could see her struggle to understand everything rather than getting lost in the details.

"What is she hurting Kali with."

"She told Kali about Richard."

"So your dad's not your dad. Is that what got her like that."

"No. Um. They used to date. Kali and Richard. He was her boyfriend before mom forced us to marry."

"Oh no."

"She put things in her head, and Kali didn't handle it well."

"Did you just find out?"

"No. I knew the whole time. I wanted to tell her, but I didn't know how to start explaining it."

"I don't even know what to think. My mind is about to explode." She stood, parading back and forth. "Why did mom want you to marry her?"

"That is where I need your help."

Samuel spent the rest of the evening by Kali's side. She slept deep and long but soon began stirring around nine. The hand he held squeezed his own, and she moaned, turning her head to notice him sitting beside her.

"Hey."

She groaned. "When did you get here?"

"It's been a while. Ember said you had an anxiety attack."

"I didn't tell her that."

"I figured you did from all she described."

Kali sat up, throwing herself against the headboard. He gave her a glass of water, and she guzzled it greedily.

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much." She rasped.

"He didn't hurt you?"

"No."

She handed him the glass, and he set it down. She didn't say anything more, and he was too unsure to reach out and touch her. They sat by each other, their shoulders barely touching. His legs were stretched out while she tucked her under her body. The weight of the silence moved him to speak first.

"When I was a teenager, sixteen, after I found out about my mom and her affair, I was in the cafeteria in school, and there were a group of boys at the table in front of me. One of them was going on and on about what a pain his mother was. How, she wouldn't let him do this and wouldn't let him do that. Someone else, I forgot his name now. He had recently lost his mother, and he looked over at the other boy and said, 'at least you have a mother.'

"I have never had such a visceral reaction to someone else's thoughts as I did that day. I remember the frustration he woke in me and how deeply I wanted to slap the back of his head with all my strength. Was that his argument? The best he could do? Because you have a mother? I have a mother, so she has a right to abuse me, break me, ruin me, and make me a bastard, but because she was still around, I should be grateful. I wasn't grateful.

"It haunted me for days, but so did the fact that I still loved her and wanted her to love me back. She was my mother. She couldn't hate me that much, right? Turns out I was right in my original argument. That kid lost a good mom. It's easy to say those things when you've lost a good parent. The only decent parent I had was my dad, who raised me, loved me, and took care of me. My mother and Richard were simply two egotistic narcissists who procreated. So, I don't get to say that. I don't get to say those things.

"I am sorry I didn't tell you. You had good parents. You tell the whole world about them. Every second you have, you show them off. I can't even show off my mom. How could I show off a man who signed away all rights to me so he could cash in a check? How do I explain to you, the woman I love, that the man you were with before me was my father? I made excuse after excuse so I didn't have to do it. I was ashamed and hoped against all hope that my mother wouldn't dare. But she doesn't love me, so she loves nothing that loves me."

He felt Kali's hand on his arm, then it moved down his back as she glued herself to his side. "Who told you that Richard was your father?"

"My dad. He was being merciful. Unlike me, he wasn't slow. He knew there was a possibility my mother would say it, and he told me ahead of time because he knew she'd be ruthless. I am sorry I couldn't do the same for you."

"What's done is done."

"But I can fix the rest."

"what do you mean."

"I told Ember everything."

Kali blanked. "What."

"I told her everything. About our marriage and our current relationship. I told her about Mom's plans and Richard as well."

Kali immediately looked sad. "I am guessing it wasn't the easiest of things to hear. I wonder what she is thinking."

"Probably a lot of things. You should do the same?"

"Tell June." Samuel mustered the courage to touch her, grateful when she didn't pull her hand away. "I told Ember because I am ready to put an end to all of this. that means the truth will have to come out. My mother has been ahead of me, but in this, she wouldn't."

"The truth. Are you going to tell your whole family next?"

"Yes, after I figure out why she was doing all this. Today she reminded me of something. I haven't been listening. I was caught up in self-pity and forgot I wasn't the original target for her plan. As you said before, my relationship was only collateral."

"And now, you know what she was after?"

"No, but Ember would. Before she left, Ember was my mother's right hand. She was grooming her to take over the company and her position. If anyone knows how to find what my mother was after with this marriage, it would be Ember."

"That's why you didn't want me using Ember for information?"

"No. Whatever my mother is hiding, it can't be something that can slip out during casual conversation. No matter what question you ask. I asked her to search the house and the office."

"Why? Why now?"

"Because I want everything to be over. Because I want you and me to finally have true peace."