He vanished behind the doors again.

Ben stood motionless, swaying slightly.

I placed a hand against his back.

My best friend.

My brother.

“Ben, look at me. Rosie chose you because you make her feel safe. Give her that same strength now.”

“My promise,” he whispered.

Before I could ask what he meant, he turned toward me.

Something unfamiliar filled his eyes.

“I need to talk to you,” he said. “Away from here.”

He guided me down the corridor to a small alcove near the stairs.

“I made Rosie a promise,” Ben said. “Before they took her back. She said, ‘If I don’t wake up, you tell my everything.'”

He reached inside his jacket.

“It’s time for you to understand why I really  married her.”

I grabbed the wall for balance.

“Please, don’t ruin four years of watching my sister smile because of you.”

Every dark suspicion I had ever buried came flooding back.

He had done it for money.

He had married Rosie because he could not have me, and she was the closest substitute.

Ben removed a sheet of paper and extended it toward me.

“I made a promise, and I’m going to keep it. Just… it’s much worse than you think,” he said. “You’d better sit down.”

My fingers trembled as I took it.

The letterhead caught my attention first.

It belonged to my father’s law firm.

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