Diamonds Are Forever. Michelle Madow

just stupid.” Madison flicked her hair over her shoulder. “I’ve known him since kindergarten. I witnessed his chubby phase in seventh grade, and his shaved-head phase in ninth grade. I can handle seeing him with a knee brace.”

      “His face is also bruised and cut up from the glass,” Brianna said. “I think he’s more embarrassed about that than the knee.”

      “It’ll heal,” Madison said. “And I don’t care about any of that. I just want to see him.”

      Her eyes filled with tears as she stared at the doors that led to the private patient rooms, hoping that by some miracle, a doctor would walk through and tell her that Oliver was ready to see her. She hated that their last words to each other had been said in anger. The days after his accident, when he was in the coma and she wasn’t sure if he was going to make it, had been the most terrifying of her life. And while she was still upset about his bet with Peyton, she kept thinking about what he’d told her before leaving the party—that while the bet had put everything into motion, his feelings for her were real.

      Had he been telling the truth? She wasn’t sure. But she did know that she couldn’t lose him. She wanted to be there for him, but how could she be when he kept refusing to see her?

      Plus, Oliver was the only one besides her parents who knew that Adrian Diamond was her father, and that Peyton, Courtney and Savannah were her half sisters. Madison hadn’t seen the Diamonds much since Savannah’s Sweet Sixteen, due to winter break, but the secret had continued eating away at her. Oliver was the only one she could talk to about this. And his not wanting to see her hurt more than when she’d found out about the bet.

      Brianna fiddled around on her iPad, not meeting Madison’s eyes. “There’s actually something I wanted to talk with you about,” she said. “I haven’t been able to yet because my dad or Ellen has always been around.”

      “What’s up?” Madison asked.

      “After Oliver was brought out of his coma, his mind was hazy from the medicine, and when it was only me and him in the room, he said something strange...” She looked around cautiously at the other two people in the waiting room—one asleep and one reading a magazine—and lowered her voice. “He said something about you being a Diamond, and having to keep it secret, and how he was the only one who knew and that he wanted me to make sure you were doing okay. I asked what he meant, but then he snapped back into focus and told me not to say anything because you’d be mad that he’d blown your secret. I promised him I wouldn’t. But he sounded so worried, and now that I know you better, I have to ask—what did he mean?”

      Madison felt like all the air had been sucked out of her lungs. She could make something up, like Oliver calling her a “diamond” as a nickname. Or she could say that the pain medicine was messing with his mind, and that she had no idea what he meant.

      But Madison had been drowning in the secret, and she needed to talk about it with someone who wasn’t her parents. Months ago she might have told Damien, but now he was close with Savannah, so that wasn’t an option. Larissa was a huge gossip, and she didn’t feel right telling her other friends from school, because all it would take was one person to say something and then the secret would be out. Maybe she should tell Brianna.

      “I wasn’t sure if I should say anything, which is why I didn’t for so long.” Brianna pulled a leg up on her chair and faced Madison. “But when he told me, he sounded like he really wanted to make sure you were okay.”

      Madison swallowed, hating how her heart raced at the possibility of Oliver still caring about her—even if he was sending his sister to make sure she was okay instead of talking to her himself. “Don’t be sorry,” she said. “Oliver wouldn’t have said anything to you if he didn’t think I could trust you.”

      “You can trust me,” Brianna said. “I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

      “All right.” It was now or never. Madison took a deep breath, figuring she might as well get it over with. “In the beginning of the school year, I discovered that Adrian Diamond is my biological father.”

      “Omigod.” Brianna’s mouth dropped open. “No way. How did you find out? Do your parents know? Does Adrian know? Do the Diamond sisters know?”

      “Keep your voice down,” Madison hissed, scooting closer to Brianna. “I found out during a lab in my advanced genetics class, when I realized that my blood type didn’t match my dad’s. I asked my parents about it that night, and they told me the truth. My parents and Adrian have always known, but they weren’t planning on telling me until I was old enough to access my trust fund...if they were ever really planning on telling me at all. No one else knows.” She shook her head, unable to believe that this was her life. “My parents asked me not to tell anyone, but I broke down and told Oliver. We agreed that the Diamond girls needed to know. So I told my parents that if Adrian didn’t tell them, I would.

      “My mom talked to Adrian, but he said there were some major issues going on in their family, and he wanted to wait to tell them. I thought he was waiting until after Savannah’s party, and was going to insist on telling them afterward. But then Oliver had his accident, and now we’re here.” She shrugged. “I still want to tell them the truth. But Oliver was there for me through this whole mess, and I’m not sure I can get through it without him.”

      Brianna’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Wow.” Her mouth opened and closed a few times, as if she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure where to start. “That’s just...wow. I can’t believe you’ve been keeping this to yourself for so long.”

      “I know,” Madison said. “I wish Oliver would talk to me.”

      “He asks about you a lot,” Brianna admitted.

      “So why won’t he see me?” Madison asked. “He won’t even respond to my calls or texts. I don’t get it.”

      “Give him time. He will when he’s ready.” Brianna focused on the floor, clearly not wanting to say more. “Anyway, have you talked to Adrian since finding all this stuff out?”

      “No.” Madison sighed and sat back in her chair. “I have no idea what to say to him. Besides, if he wants to talk to me, shouldn’t he be the one to initiate it? He’s supposed to be the parent here, not me.”

      “You’re right,” Brianna said. “And I guess marching up to Adrian Diamond and confronting him is scary, even to someone as brave as you. But you should tell Peyton, Courtney and Savannah the truth. They deserve to know. They are your sisters.”

      “Half sisters,” Madison corrected her.

      “Oliver’s my half brother,” she said. “But it doesn’t make him half as important.”

      “I know.” Madison looked down at her hands. “I’m sorry. It’s just all so strange. I’ve been an only child all my life, and now I have sisters. And I wasn’t very nice to them when they moved here. I would probably be a terrible sister.”

      “I doubt that’s true,” Brianna said. “Just act the same way around them that you do around me. They’ll love you.”

      “Maybe.” Madison pulled her legs onto the chair and wrapped her arms around them. “But you didn’t see what a bitch I was to them at first. They should hate me.”

      “You’ll never know what they think if you don’t tell them the truth.”

      “I know.” Madison didn’t like it, but Brianna was right.

      “Let me know how it goes, okay?” Brianna said. “I have to go back to school soon, and I hate being so far away from everything that happens here.”

      “Is boarding school really that bad?” Madison asked, glad to change the subject.

      “It’s in the middle of nowhere, and the only guys I see are my teachers,” she complained. “I want to live