Echoes of the Heart Read Online Free PDF

took me to.’ Shards of glass pierced her heart and she sucked in a steadying breath as she remembered all she’d learnt. ‘I found out you and Sophie were having a fight and that I was just a holiday fling to you.’
    Jake’s features stiffened and he bit out a curse as he finally released his hold on her.
    Amanda stared past Jake at a statue of an angel that adorned the crypt opposite her. She inhaled a long breath, smoothed her hands over her dress and tried to hold her emotions in check. ‘Later, that same night, I heard your father saying you had to sort out your problems with Sophie and marry her.’ She looked him straight in the eye and kept her voice level as she said, ‘You were cheating on Sophie when you were with me.’
    ‘Sophie and I were not dating when I met you,’ he returned emphatically, his hands cutting through the air in a gesture of denial.
    ‘No, not technically,’ she said with a bitter twist of her lips. ‘You were having a fight and I was a holiday fling until you kissed and made up. And you made up...what? The day after that same party, wasn’t it?’
    ‘That’s not true.’
    ‘Oh, come on, Jake. After all I heard that night, I’d already decided to end our sordid little fling, but when I heard the news that your father had suffered a massive heart attack and was in critical care, I phoned you and offered to be by your side.’
    ‘It wasn’t possible for you to come to the hospital.’
    ‘Of course not. Not only did your father despise me, but by that stage you had already patched things up with Sophie. I saw the newspaper photo of her leaving the hospital with you. You certainly didn’t need me comforting you when you had her.’
    ‘You sound as though that bothers you.’ His brow furrowed.
    Bothered her? Knowing Jake was planning a future with Sophie while he’d made love to her was like pouring acid on an open wound. Gritting her teeth together she searched for the butterfly as a distraction, but it had left the wreath.
    ‘Why didn’t you come to me and tell me what you’d overheard at the party?’ Jake pressed.
    Amanda hesitated. ‘You know, I was so stupid. Your friends were ripping me to shreds, talking about how unsophisticated I was and how I didn’t fit into your world.’ What his friends said struck a chord with her own feelings of inadequacy about her background. She had wondered how such an incredibly gorgeous, successful male could be attracted to her. ‘I told myself that my background didn’t matter. I even thought they must be wrong about Sophie.’
    ‘They were.’
    She ignored his denial. ‘The saddest thing was that I reasoned that I must be special to you because you were taking me to your parent’s party afterwards to introduce me to them as your girlfriend.’
    The second Jake had pulled into the driveway of his parents’ holiday house, Amanda’s doubts had re-surfaced. She hadn’t been prepared for the blatant wealth of Jake’s world. Their ‘weekender’ on the coast was a feat of architectural genius equipped with every modern convenience. The house, and the expensive European cars lining the driveway, screamed to her that she and Jake were worlds apart.
    ‘Our relationship was built on lies.’
    ‘ Lies ?’ Jake took a step toward her. ‘I never lied to you.’
    ‘You deceived me about who you were. You told me you were a management executive for a media group. I had no idea your parents were the owners of the biggest media corporation in the country. As soon as I saw them I realised who they were, and I realised that the Sophie I’d heard about was none other than the famous Sophie Hamilton.’
    His eyes narrowed. ‘You’re still claiming you didn’t know who I was?’
    ‘How could I know? You appeared in the papers in social columns I didn’t read, but you hadn’t taken over your father’s company at that stage. You didn’t have the notoriety that you have now.’
    Jake ran a hand through his hair in a gesture of