Page 55 of Everyone’s a Liar

Delilah clicked her tongue in disapproval. “And you don’t care if your cousin’s engagement announcement is a success?”

“Not really.”

Delilah looked shocked, as if unable to believe anyone would be indifferent to Celeste’s stunning triumph in landing a rich husband.

“That’s very selfish,” she accused.

“It’s honest,” Livia corrected her aunt. “And I don’t remember you arranging a party and inviting the press when I started my agency. In fact, you didn’t bother showing up for my grand opening.”

Delilah flinched. Not out of guilt, Livia was sure. The older woman simply hadn’t expected the direct attack.

“Because I assumed you invited us to show off your connection to the Benoit family, not out of a desire to share your special night with us,” she finally shot back.

Livia stared at the older woman. Her aunt couldn’t be serious? When in her life had she tried to trade in on her family connections?

“I have the name Benoit, I don’t have to drag you out of the bayous to prove our relationship.”

“Fine.” Delilah pressed her lips in a tight line. “Did you really want us there?” It was Livia’s turn to flinch. They both knew that the invitation had been one of obligation, not from any real desire for them to show up. “You see?” her aunt pressed. “The rift between us isn’t all our fault. You’ve made it clear you consider us the enemy.”

Livia tilted her chin, refusing to be branded the bad guy. “Do you blame me? How would Celeste feel if she’d been handed off to strangers instead of being raised here with her family?”

Delilah glanced toward the workers who continued to carry massive flower arrangements out of the vans. Was she worried they weren’t following her orders? Or that one of the staff might overhear their conversation?

“That was your grandfather’s decision,” she at last snapped in a low voice.

Livia shrugged. “And no one bothered to fight for me to come home.”

“The Willows belonged to Henri. His word was law.”

Livia didn’t miss the edge of bitterness in her aunt’s voice. It was a reminder that life with Henri Benoit couldn’t have been pleasant. Still, the older man had at least tolerated Adrian and his family. That was better than her.

“And he didn’t want me,” she said in flat tones.

“He said that you were a painful reminder of what he lost.”

Livia snorted. It was the same tired excuse they always used. If Henri had loved her mother so much, then why wouldn’t he do everything in his power to keep her daughter with him?

Squashing the ancient sense of injustice, Livia instead concentrated on the unexpected encounter with her aunt. During the long hours of the night, she’d promised herself she would use every minute she was stuck at the Willows to uncover the truth. Not just the truth of her family’s potential connection to Larry Sutton, but her increasing certainty that there was a secret surrounding her mother’s death.

“And what was the excuse for keeping Helene’s sons from visiting?” she abruptly demanded.

Delilah looked confused. “Who?”

Livia arched a brow. She’d never really questioned why Helene’s former family never bothered to spend time at the Willows. Who cared? It wasn’t until she started poking into the past that she recognized that the stepkids had been erased from Benoit history even more thoroughly than she had.

“You know, Helene’s stepchildren,” she reminded her aunt. “I don’t remember their names? Pat or Bob or something.”

“You mean Patrick and Bradley?” Delilah continued to look confused, as if she couldn’t imagine why Livia would be interested.

“That sounds right. Why haven’t I ever seen them here?”

“I suppose they didn’t want to come back after the divorce.”

“Even though Helene helped raised them?”

Delilah made a choked sound. “She hardly raised them. She was married to Lance, but she had a full-time nanny for his sons, along with a tutor who came every day after school to help with their homework.”

Livia studied her aunt’s grim expression. She acted as if Helene had committed some terrible sin by handing off her kids to the hired help.