Her Revenge Was His Regret (Shirley and Gilbert) novel Chapter 432

"If that's how it was, then why did they treat Julia that way? Why go out of their way to send her back? Wasn't she Caleb's wife? And they cared so much about Caleb."

"That woman's ambitions went way too far. She didn't just want Caleb—she wanted his influence too. She got caught more than once trying to cozy up to his people to build her own network."

"Caleb knew about it?"

"He knew. He just pretended he didn't."

"True love," Sherry remarked. "So he was into that kind of woman. His taste..."

She trailed off. The guy was dead now, and it didn't feel right to say too much. "So how did he die, anyway?"

He was older than Lucas, but not by much. Not nearly old enough to die of natural causes. Was it a revenge kill?

Lucas let out a cold, quiet laugh. "How did he die? All I saw was his funeral and his tombstone—and Julia sobbing her eyes out in a way that just grated on my nerves."

"So when Julia said she'd met you before, and acted so familiar with you back in that room... was that because you saw each other at the funeral?"

Sherry had never actually asked the question out loud, but it had been stuck in her head the whole time.

She kept wondering how they might have met, and how close they really were.

Turned out, she was just a sister-in-law.

"Yeah."

Lucas smiled bitterly. "She was surprised when she first saw me. But after I told her I was from Virelia and that nobody around here knew me, she basically lost interest."

To be more accurate, she'd only given him a quick hello before she knew who he was.

And that was mostly because he looked a little like Caleb.

From Julia's point of view, it made sense that eighty percent of the resemblance was just plastic surgery to copy Caleb's face—after all, everyone knew about Caleb's status.

And Caleb really had loved Julia, but he'd kept his head on straight. He never told her the full truth about the Harrisons, and he never admitted they were related.

Not until Caleb died.

"Somebody sold Caleb and me out. The Whites found out—and so did Julia. That's why I said that person had some skill."

So that was why Lucas had almost sounded impressed by Julia earlier.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?"

Sherry rolled her eyes. Deep down, she knew she'd stayed aloof and questioned Lucas' affection largely because she suspected there was something between the two of them.

"Because I didn't want to tip anyone off. I always thought Caleb's death was suspicious. He was just as capable as I was."

Otherwise, after he died, the people who'd supported him wouldn't have refused to merge with his faction.

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