THE INNOCENT WIFE

CHAPTER SIX

"You knew about the baby, and you said nothing," Lisa roared, fully aware she was taking her anger and frustration out on a member of her staff. It was something she'd never done before. Lisa prided herself on managing her emotions tightly. But in that moment, she was not capable of any kind of control.

Jisoo, weary after a hectic week, looked at the woman she knew almost as a sibling. "Yes."

"Damn it, Jisoo, how could you keep it from me?"

Jisoo stood and swept gracefully across Lisa's large office. It was past midnight, and the city was a smudge of orange illumination. The ancient buildings were a ghostly silhouette against the inky black sky.

"You sent me to London to watch over your ex-wife. I didn't expect that we would become friends."

Lisa's temper spiked. "So because you liked her, you abandoned your obligations to me?"

Jisoo narrowed her eyes. "I did everything I could to protect Roseanne. I made the regular security reports you required. I kept you informed of the information you needed to know."

"Who were you to decide that?" Lisa challenged fiercely. "She was mine to protect!"

"You could not have protected her from the miscarriage," Jisoo said quietly, her words thick with sorrow. "No one could have."

"You do not know that," Lisa responded harshly. "If I'd known about the baby, I would have made sure she had the best medical care. I would have taken care of her."

"Even if she'd known about the pregnancy, which I assure you she didn't, Roseanne would not have wanted you there." Jisoo weighed up the responsibility she felt to her dear friend and boss with the love and affection she felt to Roseanne. Roseanne who had become a friend, and a woman she greatly wanted to do the right thing by. "Whatever happened between the two of you almost broke her spirit in two. When Roseanne arrived in London, she was barely able to string two words together. Do you know what it's taken for her to find her feet again?"

A gunshot to the gut would have hurt less. "So you chose not to tell me that I had created a life?"

Jisoo clenched her hands into fists by her side. "I made that decision, yes. Once the baby was gone, it was not my choice. I probed Roseanne about the other parent. About whether or not they knew..."

"What did she say?" Lisa interrupted impatiently.

"That she would never forgive Roseanne for losing the baby. For leaving, and losing the child. She was so wracked by guilt, I could not risk adding to it."

Lisa was finding breathing difficult. She slammed her hand down on her desk and spun away from Jisoo. With the greatest effort, Lisa reined her anger in. "I loved her. I deserved to know."

"Yes. I agree. But telling you was outside the scope of my job. Frankly, Lisa, Roseanne deserved better than that." Jisoo braced herself to say what she'd been thinking for months. "Spying on your ex-wife is not why I signed up to join your personal security detail."

Lisa turned around slowly, her body straight as an arrow. "You know the threats Roseanne received. Despite my best efforts to keep her out of the public eye, whoever knows the truth of my paternity also knew about our marriage."

Jisoo nodded. "Yes. I saw the death threats. I know why you had me guard her. But Roseanne and I have become genuine friends. The duplicity of my relationship with her now feels wrong."

Lisa grunted. "I can understand that. But I needed someone I could trust. Someone I trusted completely."

Jisoo nodded. "In the end, it didn't help."