I worked here, too. I didn’t want you to know the truth. James is my middle name.
I started using it when I left this place. Mark was the kid who scrubbed floors. James… James was someone new.”
I stood there, stunned.
“You grew up here?”
He nodded, looking ashamed. “Yeah, my family wasn’t rich.”
“So, why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“Because I knew you wouldn’t accept me if you knew the truth. And your family definitely wouldn’t.
I didn’t want them to see me as some poor nobody.”
“But how were you planning to get out of all this? Did you want to lie to me for the rest of your life?”
“The owner of this hotel treated me like his own son. Before he died, he left the hotel to me.
The will is just now coming into effect. If you hadn’t started suspecting anything, you probably wouldn’t have found out.”
“That’s not normal, James. None of this is normal.”
“I know.
It was a mistake. That’s why I kept talking with Lily. We weren’t hiding an affair, we were discussing the will.
She kept telling me I had to come clean with you.”
I wiped my eyes, anger mixing with exhaustion. “She was right. You should have told me the truth.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I didn’t know how to tell you. I was afraid you wouldn’t love me if you knew the truth.”
“I never loved you for your money, James. I loved you for who you were.
But now, I don’t even know who you are anymore.”
He fell to his knees. “I love you, Em. I was afraid of losing you, and that’s why I lied.
Please, forgive me.”
Tears filled my eyes as I looked down at him. “I don’t know if I can forgive you,” I whispered. “Not after all the lies.”
“Please, I’ll do anything.
Just don’t leave me.”
I knelt down beside him, wiping my eyes. “If I hear one more lie from you, I’m gone. Do you understand?”
He nodded, tears streaming down his face.
“I swear, no more lies. I’ll be honest with you, always.”
I hugged him tightly. “I would have chosen you even if you were just a janitor, James.
It didn’t matter to me.”
He kissed me gently. “I would have chosen you, even if you were a bum.”
We laughed, a small moment of light breaking through the heavy tension. I wasn’t sure where we would go from here, but at that moment, I had to believe him.
At that moment, that was enough.
