Uncovering You 10: The Finale Read Online Free PDF Page A

The care with which the lines were drawn, their perfect placement on the page, the underlying confidence, makes it all…astounding. There’s not a single smudge or correction anywhere...
    Paul said this is what he sees. Not what he creates, but what he honest-to-God sees.
    It’s a glimpse of the world through his eyes. And it’s not the world of a lunatic. It’s the world of a prodigy.
    Seeing this makes me stumble. It makes me unsure. Should I go to Jeremy with these? My dad—my father!—has a talent that should be nurtured. I can’t have Jeremy cast Paul off into the asylum. Jeremy and I are here together now, fully integrated, fully… ourselves. I have influence over him. He has the resources to let the world witness Paul’s talent.
    The only thing that’s stopping me is the threat that if Jeremy sees these—and if he realizes that Paul is more capable than he thinks—Stonehart might come out. Stonehart, as the man who first caught Paul and wanted to make him suffer.
    I tuck the pictures away. What if Paul is fully there—and he realizes what he does—but he maintains the act of delusion because of that horrifying phrase: Appearances must be maintained .
    Is that his way of telling me that he does pretend? Is pretending the only thing keeping him safe from Stonehart’s wrath?
    Well, I can keep him safe now, too. Then again—I glance at my broken arm, which has started itching beneath the cast—how sure of that can I really be? Jeremy is unpredictable. Even when he has the best of intentions. If I reveal to him something about Paul? That might be just be the trigger to set him off again.
    I look around the room. Are there more cameras here? I don’t know. If I hide the folder here, will Jeremy know?
    Then it hits me: I don’t need to hide anything. If Jeremy is to respect my boundaries, it is enough for him to know that whatever is inside this folder is mine. And I don’t need to share.
    I tuck the secret art under my arm and leave the room. My father, the savant. Who would have known?
    For now, nobody has to.

     

Chapter Seven
     

     
    I find Jeremy, with Rose and Charles, downstairs in the living room.
    He looks at me. “So?” He asks. “How did it go?”
    I hesitate, glancing at the other two. “Just as you said it would.”
    “I’m sorry.” He stands. “Lilly, I have an announcement to make.”
    “Yes?”
    “We’re leaving. Rose and Charles will come with us. Hugh will stay here.”
    “What do you mean, Hugh will stay here? Doesn’t he have work to get to?”
    “No. This is now his retirement home. He won’t be coming back to Stonehart Industries.”
    “But who will take his place on the board?”
    Jeremy’s eyes bore into me. “You will.”
    I stare at him. “You’re shitting me.”
    “I am not.”
    “But—“
    “I told you once already: I want you by my side. This is affirmation of the fact.” He looks back at Charles and Rose. “I broke the news to them just now, too.”
    Rose stands up beaming. She strides over to me. “Congratulations, Lilly,” she says, offering me her hand. “You’ll do a marvelous job.”
    Charles is next. He takes my hand in two of his. He peeks over his shoulder at the others, looks at me, and winks. He doesn’t say anything. His wide smile is enough.
    He lets go. Jeremy approaches me next. “You’re finally set, ready now, to be my real woman.” A ferocious possessiveness flares in his eyes. “For life.”
     

     
    Monday morning hits. My induction to the board.
    “Ready?” Jeremy asks. He looks at me from the doorway of his mansion bathroom. “You look stunning.”
    “I don’t feel stunning,” I mutter. “I feel like a goof.”
    Jeremy comes in and wraps his arms around me. “You’ll be perfect,” he whispers in my ear.
    “I’m going to be the youngest one by two decades! Four, if it weren’t for you! What the hell do I know? What are the rest of them going to think?”
    “That you’re young, ambitious, and hungry.