Chapter 43

“What do you mean?” he demanded.

“I mean, your brother is gone. You don’t need to compete with him.” Anna said.

His expression hardened. “I’m not—”

“You are,” she cut him off quietly. “You’re so angry with him, so bitter. You want everything that should have been his, and I get it. I understand why. He replaced you and that must have been awful.”

Cedric said nothing, his face set in forbidding lines.

“But he’s dead, Cedric,” she went on gently. “He was just a boy when he died. And it’s not his fault that your parents couldn’t do better. It’s not your fault either. You deserved better.”

He was so tense, his whole body rigid. “I didn’t get it though, did I?” he bit out.

She slid her hands wide on his thighs, pressing her fingers into the hard muscle beneath the wool of his suit trousers. “No, and you should have. But like I said, it’s not your fault you didn’t get it, and it’s not Vincent's fault either. Neither of your parents couldn’t see w