That her face was monstrous.
That people would recoil in terror if they ever saw it.
That not even plastic surgery could ever repair what was wrong with her.
But now, in a single devastating moment, Emily understood that every word of it had been a lie.
Ethan came into the room.
The instant he saw her without the bandages, he stopped as if the floor had turned to stone beneath him. For several seconds, he simply stared, unable to speak.
At last, in a low voice, he said, “So that’s why Robert forbade me to see you before the wedding…”
Emily’s breath caught. “You… didn’t know?”
He shook his head.
“Before the ceremony, he made me sign a strange agreement.”
“What kind of agreement?”
“It said I had no right to look at Emily’s face until the wedding night. He told me it was an old family tradition.”
None of it made sense.
For the next few days, uncertainty gnawed at Emily until she could no longer bear it. Finally, she returned to Robert’s house.
This time, she walked into his study with nothing covering her face.
Robert only looked her over calmly.
“So,” he said, “you took them off after all.”
“Why?” Emily demanded, her voice trembling. “Why did you lie to me my entire life?”
Without answering at once, Robert turned and went to the window. He stood there for a long while, staring out at some distant point only he could see.
Then he finally spoke.
“Because you were too beautiful.”
Emily could hardly believe what she had heard.
“What?”
“When you were born, even the doctors said they had never seen such a beautiful child. I knew how men looked at your mother. I saw what beauty could bring—not only admiration, but envy, obsession, danger. That was when I decided no one would ever be allowed to see your face.”
“You stole my childhood from me…”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“You locked me inside this house. You forbade me to look in mirrors. You starved me. You told me I was ugly!”
For the first time in many years, Robert lowered his head.
“If I had told you the truth, you would have wanted the whole world to see you. And I could not allow that.”
“But why?”
He looked directly into Emily’s eyes.
“Because I believed only one man had the right to see Emily’s face—her lawful husband. And even he had to wait until after the wedding.”
Emily stood in silence, staring at the man she had spent her whole life believing was the most caring father in the world.