As soon as she left, Kane naturally followed.


    Sallie had originally wanted toin to Larkin about Vince, but by the time the party was winding down, her initial anger had mostly faded. With little interest left in tattling, she simply said her goodbyes to Larkin as she noticed guests beginning to trickle out.


    Of their close-knit circle, only Yates remained, standing with Vince, the two of them nursing drinks.


    "Your old man seems to have taken quite a liking to Timothy''s wife," Yates remarked, curiosity glinting in his eyes.


    They''d all grown up together, so they knew each other''s quirks and family histories well enough. Vince stepping in to help Jessica made sense-it was mostly just to humor Timothy. But Larkin''s involvement was harder to figure out.


    Vince chuckled. "Jessica''s his first love''s granddaughter."


    "Ah, that exins it," Yates said, the pieces falling into ce. Everyone in the Zimmerman family knew about Larkin''s first love and so did their childhood gang. Word was, his first love had been a master of traditional crafts, so after retiring, he''d spent years collecting her work.


    Yates clinked sses with Vince, grinning. "Small world, isn''t it?"


    Vince sighed. "Sometimes it feels tiny, sometimes vast. Take my little sister-after all these years, there''s still no sign of her."


    Yates gave Vince''s shoulder a reassuring pat. "Didn''t Timothy promise to help look? With all the information floating around these days, maybe something will turn up soon."


    "Let''s hope so."


    Timothy returned to The Gilded Whisper Estates, but Jessica still wasn''t home.


    A restless heaviness pressed on his chest; unable to sit still, he stepped outside. The air was perfect tonight-cool and gentle, the kind offort that came with early autumn. He settled into the gazebo and lit a cigarette, the smoke curling around him in the soft light, his features shifting between sharp and mysterious.


    No one could quite tell what he was thinking.


    Before long, She appeared, her figure framed by the glow. Timothy''s voice was calm and even. “It''ste. Why aren''t you resting? What brings you here?"


    She met his gaze, her eyes dark and searching. Her voice came out low and rough, "Timothy... I know we can''t be together. When you got married, you promised that even if you married Jessica, you''d keep it a secret-that it would never be made public. But tonight..."


    She bit her lower lip, sorrow flickering across her face. "I know my ce. I''ve always known how this would end. But do you understand what your promise meant to me? It was the one thing that gave me the strength to keep going, even if, for the rest of our lives, we could only be aunt and nephew in everyone else''s eyes. As long as I remembered your promise, I felt like I was special to you."


    Tears shimmered in She''s eyes, threatening to fall. Hershes trembled, her lips curving in a desperate, almost hopeless smile.


    "So why did you have to destroy thest bit of hope I had?"


    Timothy took a long drag, his eyes shadowed and unreadable as he watched her. She had no idea what he was thinking.