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The last part of her comment piqued my interest. So, was this about Anya? Was she okay?
“My daughter came to me distressed recently. And I understand it’s about you, Mr. Miller.”
My eyebrow lifted, but I didn’t say a word.
She smirked. “I always knew you’d be DA one day. Just a side note.” She opened the box and stared down at the contents. “Anya, my daughter, shared something with you that no doubt changed your life.”
My jaw clenched. How the hell could she say this to me? And so casually? There was nothing casual about questioning my father’s character after believing for decades he was an upstanding man.
“It changed my daughter’s life, whatever happened between you two, of which she hasn’t admitted anything. But…” She looked up at me. “I’m her mother, and I know.”
“What’s in the box, Inez?”
She looked down, chuckling. “Right … in this box is proof that what Anya told you is true. It’s information I kept back from the trial. Your father had been dead for ten years, and I just couldn’t hurt you or your mother with information that would turn your world upside-down. Blame me for that, not Anya.”
She placed the box on my desk and pushed it over. My heart pounded; my mind reeled. This was the proof Anya spoke of. I couldn’t let myself look inside yet. I wasn’t ready to solidify this new image of who my father was.
My gaze met hers, and she stood. “All of it is original. There are no copies of anything. You have it all now.”
She pressed her lips together and turned toward the door. But before she left, she looked back at me again.
“I accept any fate you have, Mr. Miller. I firmly believe I was right to hold this back, and after you look through everything, if you disagree, my information is inside there as well. Or, you can reach me through Anya. You know where she is, right?”
I sat back, not saying a word. What for? She could read me. Few people could.
“And no, she has no idea I came here.” Then she was gone.
I sat there for a time, looking at the box. I stared at it as if it could speak to me and tell me the things I didn’t want to know but had to know. And being in that position highlighted that I had done so much on my own. But I didn’t want to look through the new evidence by myself.
I stood, urgency moving my feet. My pride was at an all-time low, and my desperation was at an all-time high.
I knew where I needed to go. It’s where I was always going.
Chapter Seventeen
Anya Sanchez
It was the last day of the summer term. The day of the final. I’d missed the last two quizzes, but I had to attempt the final examination at least to get a passing grade—anything but the failing one I bordered on. I still wanted to graduate at the summer ceremony in August.
I walked into class wearing a casual linen pantsuit my mother gave me while I visited her last week. She’d said I wasn’t dressing for success. I didn’t know, maybe she was right. Maybe Ursin would see me in this white outfit and regret throwing me out of his life.
I wasn’t sure if I wanted him, though. I needed stability, something I didn’t get in childhood. I didn’t want to power play anymore. Ursin’s ongoing power grab terrified me now. It shattered my heart to truly walk away from the first real man I fell for.
Just walking into his lecture to take the final test—his final exertion of authority on the students—made me nervous. The auditorium had been nearly full at just under a minute before class started. I glanced at the podium, but Mr. Miller hadn’t arrived.
I took a seat near the back by Reggie, who looked terrified, shifting in his seat, and sighing. I’d never seen a guy so distressed before a test.
“It’s okay, Reggie. You’ll do fine,” I said and met his red-eyed gaze.
“I did an all-nighter, and I feel like shit, Anya.” He slunk into the metal chair, pausing a moment to take me in. “Nice outfit, and by the way, where have you been? You’ve missed the last, what, six classes?”
More like seven classes.
I glanced back to the podium. My heart thrummed, and my stomach rippled. God, I really missed seeing Ursin. Even if I shouldn’t, it was over between us. Over before it began.
“I’ve had some personal stuff come up.” I sighed too. “I just hope I can pull off an A on this test to at least pass the course. Screw my job at True Investigative Media.”
“No shit?” Reggie seemed impressed. “You have a job there? That’s cool.”
