𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐀𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐒, 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬

FORTY-SEVEN| a good sailor goes down with his ship

TOM Bexley knew that his wife was full of secrets.

It's something that had intrigued him back in high school; had gotten him hooked on Isla Zheng in the first place. She was gorgeous, of course, and was from a well known respected family—she was the girl everyone wanted as she was.

But, it was the way her mind worked that really had Tom interested. The way she kept thousands of secrets in her head, the way her loyalties lied, how she held people so high in her head. How....complicated she was.

Tom admired it. But now, he was starting to question it.

Marrying Isla meant he would always be tied to Ward Cameron—he'd known that since the day he met the woman, watching her walk around the halls with the, at the time, Pogue. And Tom always respected the Cameron man; never showed him any sort of dislike. Ward Cameron was charming and respectful; he knew how to win.

Tom had always seen how close his wife and Ward Cameron were without any questioning or distrust towards Isla. He knew they went back, that Isla would forever stay loyal to him, and knew everything that happened at the Cameron estate was purely professional and friendly.

But, Tom was starting to question how exactly loyal Isla was to Ward, too.

Another thing Tom Bexley knew about his wife? She wasn't the best person.

When they were younger, Isla had been better. Her eyes were warm and a smile that had you fall all over again. She'd been friends with Pogues—Ward and him, for example—and Kooks alike, and hadn't been so obsessed with her reputation. She walked with her head high, but for different reasons.

However, the moment Bexley and Cameron became the respected and rich names they were, everything changed. Suddenly, Isla became self-centered; reputation centered; money centered. She saw Pogues as though they belonged below her; stopped talking to ones she used to call close. Her gaze grew colder and her smile became more deceiving than welcoming. Everything changed.

It was like becoming Full Kook had replaced Isla completely. Because Isla Bexley certainly didn't have the same heart Isla Zheng did.

Her cold heart certainly didn't change when Eden was born—if Tom's honest, it grew worse.

Instead of being in a household where it didn't matter where people were Pogue or Kook, didn't matter how much money your name was worth, Eden Brielle Bexley was raised to be someone who only hung around the most respected names, like Ward's two golden children, Rafe and Sarah, or the local children Topper and Kelce.

She was raised to believe the blonde Pogue who mowed their lawn was gum under her shoe, that money was everything, that she needed to walk with her head higher than everyone else because she was better than everyone else.

And, while Tom loves Isla, even with her imperfect ideas, he's glad Eden didn't turn out a carbon copy of the woman's beliefs.

Eden was everything Isla wasn't—she slummed with the lowest of Pogues and spent her nights smoking and drinking with friends for the sake of fun. She couldn't hold back her opinions and dressed casually; she liked making bracelets and partying; She wanted to travel; She prioritized her friends over her family and reputation; She was a free spirit and was spending her teenage years simply living life to the fullest.

In Isla's eyes, she was a mess. But to Tom, she was perfect.

The Bexley's themselves used to be a picture perfect family—on the outside, at least. But now, their frame was crumbling apart.