My phone starts buzzing in my pocket.
Strange.
I don’t answer. I need her. I need answers.
It eventually stops buzzing, only to start right back up again.
I groan and grab a nearby towel before picking up my phone. It’s an unknown number; a tactic Beckett would use to contact me.
“Hello?” I answer as soon as I see the number.
“I fucked up,” Beckett says.
“What happened? Are the kids…?” Safe? Alive? Dead? I can’t think any of the words out loud. But the mention of the kids has Liesel scrambling out of the shower, dripping wet with a towel and barreling toward me.
I put the phone on speaker so we can both hear.
“Phoenix took Rose and—” Beckett says.
“Okay? She’s her mother. Just call her and tell her to come back to the compound where it’s safe,” I say.
“No, I mean she kidnapped her,” Beckett says.
Liesel and I trade stares. “She’s her mother. She can’t kidnap her.”
“Well, she did. She said she was just taking Rose downstairs to get ice cream. But they are both gone, and she left a note.”
“What does the note say?”
“To give her the treasure or else she’ll kill Rose,” Beckett says.
I glance at Liesel, whose eyes are spinning. Yet again, she knows something she isn’t telling me.
“Where is Atlas?” I ask.
“Maxwell took him. I tried to fight him off, but I wasn’t strong enough.”
“Fuck.”
I throw the phone down in frustration, watching it shatter into a billion pieces.
Liesel sinks to the floor.
“They’re all working together,” Liesel says suddenly.
“What?”
She comes out of her daze and looks up at me. “They are all working together. Corbin, Maxwell, and Phoenix. Corbin played the bad guy, Maxwell our friend, and Phoenix the loving mother.”
She stands up suddenly. “Did you ever figure out why you and Phoenix weren’t legally married?”
I shake my head.
“I don’t think she’s my cousin. I don’t think she’s my blood. I think you weren’t married because her last name isn’t actually Dunn, it’s Brown, same as Waylon. Same as Corbin. Same as Maxwell.”
I rack my brain, but her theory makes sense.
“What else?” I ask, knowing she has more.
“The letter I got; it said something crazy. Something I didn’t think was possible.”
“What?” I beg frantically.
“You were at the hospital the day Atlas was born.”
I nod. “I wish I had told you, and I could have held your hand when you went into surgery. I could have held you when you cried, but I was too angry with you. I was always furious with you because you never chose me.”
She frowns. “I was pregnant with triplets.”
My eyes widen.
“The day I gave birth to Atlas, I thought I lost the other two. That’s what the nurses said, but the letter I got from Corbin said differently. He said I had three kids, and he’d have all three soon enough. I thought he was bluffing, but now I’m not so sure. You didn’t take my kids and hide them away?”
I shake my head.
“You think all three survived?”
“Yes, and I think they have all three,” she says in disbelief.
“Who are the three?”
“Maxwell has Atlas, who we both already know is mine. Corbin has Declan, according to his letter. Waylon’s DNA proof all these years wasn’t proof of Atlas, it was proof of Declan, I just didn’t know it. And Phoenix has Rose.”
“This doesn’t make any sense, Rose is Phoenix’s and mine,” I say.
“Phoenix lied to you, Langston. She said she had your child, when really she had mine and wanted to keep you close to control us both. I think you’ve known for a long time. I suspected it when I got the letter, but I didn’t want to hurt you. I didn’t want to take away a biological kid from you because I know how that feels. But Atlas, Declan, and Rose are my kids. Somehow, they all survived.”
I collapse on the bed in shock, as I come to so many realizations at once.
Finally, I lift my head and look at Liesel. “And now they have them all.”
Thank you so much for reading Cruel Lies! Langston & Liesel’s story continues in Dangerous Lies
My life is cruel, but so far, I’ve survived it. Survived the pain of giving up a child. But for how much longer…
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“AMAZING! Talk about edge of your seat suspenseful, non-put-down-able, emotional and gut wrenching book. WOW, just WOW!” —Reviewer
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Also by Ella Miles
LIES SERIES:
* * *
Vicious Lies
Desperate Lies
Fated Lies
Cruel Lies
Dangerous Lies
Endless Lies
SINFUL TRUTHS:
Sinful Truth #1
Twisted Vow #2
Reckless Fall #3
Tangled Promise #4
Fallen Love #5
Broken Anchor #6
TRUTH OR LIES:
Taken by Lies #1
Betrayed by Truths #2
Trapped by Lies #3
Stolen by Truths #4
Possessed by Lies #5
Consumed by Truths #6
DIRTY SERIES:
Dirty Obsession
Dirty Addiction
Dirty Revenge
Dirty: The Complete Series
ALIGNED SERIES:
Aligned: Volume 1 (Free Series Starter)
Aligned: Volume 2
Aligned: Volume 3
Aligned: Volume 4
Aligned: The Complete Series Boxset
UNFORGIVABLE SERIES:
Heart of a Thief
Heart of a Liar
Heart of a Prick
Unforgivable: The Complete Series Boxset
MAYBE, DEFINITELY SERIES:
Maybe Yes
Maybe Never
Maybe Always
* * *
Definitely Yes
Definitely No
Definitely Forever
STANDALONES:
Pretend I’m Yours
Pretend We’re Over
Finding Perfect
Savage Love
Too Much
Not Sorry
Hate Me or Love Me: An Enemies to Lovers Romance Collection
About the Author
Ella Miles writes steamy romance, including everything from dark suspense romance that will leave you on the edge of your seat to contemporary romance that will leave you laughing out loud or crying. Most importantly, she wants you to feel everything her characters feel as you read.
Ella is currently living her own happily ever after near the Rocky Mountains with her high school sweetheart husband. Her heart is also taken by her goofy five year old black lab who is scared of everything, including her own shadow.
Ella is a USA Today Bestselling Author & Top 50 Bestselling Author.
Stalk Ella at:
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ella@ellamiles.com