Chapter 3
I couldn't breathe.
“What does that mean?”
Ethan didn't answer.
Diane stepped forward.
“Ethan.”
He looked at her.
“Stop.”
It was the first time all afternoon he had spoken to his mother with fear instead of obedience.
She stared at him.
“You don't get to stop this now.”
I looked between them.
“Tell me.”
Ethan rubbed both hands over his face.
“Claire, please.”
“Tell me.”
Lily was still beside me.
I could feel her trembling.
I wanted to take her outside.
I wanted to get away from every person in that room.
But I couldn't leave without understanding what they were talking about.
“What does she mean by Lily isn't really mine?”
Ethan looked at our daughter.
His face collapsed.
Then he whispered:
“She's yours.”
My heart slammed against my ribs.
“But?”
He didn't answer.
Diane did.
“Lily's biological father isn't Ethan.”
The room erupted.
Someone gasped.
Someone else whispered my name.
My mother-in-law stood there like she had finally won something.
I stared at Ethan.
“Is that true?”
He nodded.
Once.
I felt like someone had punched me.
“How long?”
“Since before she was born.”
I couldn't speak.
“Why didn't you tell me?”
“I was afraid.”
“Of what?”
“Losing you.”
I laughed.
It came out broken.
“You lied to me for seven years.”
“I didn't know how to tell you.”
“You had seven years.”
He looked at Lily.
“She was always my daughter.”
“That wasn't my question.”
He swallowed.
“No. She isn't biologically mine.”
I looked at Diane.
“And you knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
She smiled.
“Because I helped make sure the truth stayed buried.”
I felt sick.
“Who is her father?”
Diane didn't answer.
Ethan did.
“I don't know.”
“You don't know?”
“He disappeared before Lily was born.”
Diane shook her head.
“That's not true.”
Ethan looked at her.
“Mom.”
“He didn't disappear.”
The color drained from Ethan's face.
Diane continued.
“He was paid to disappear.”
I stepped backward.
“Who paid him?”
Diane's eyes moved toward Ethan.
He whispered:
“Mom, stop.”
She ignored him.
“Your husband.”
I stared at Ethan.
He shook his head.
“I didn't.”
“You signed the payment agreement.”
“I was twenty-six.”
“You knew exactly what you were doing.”
“I thought it was the only way to protect Claire.”
I couldn't understand anything anymore.
“What was he being protected from?”
No one answered.
Then Diane walked to the table.
She picked up a second envelope.
“This.”
She placed it in front of me.
“This is why Ethan married you.”
My fingers went numb.
“What?”
Ethan stepped toward his mother.
“Give me that.”
Diane held it away.
“You've protected her long enough.”
He reached for it.
I stepped between them.
“Don't.”
He froze.
I opened the envelope.
Inside was an old photograph.
I recognized myself immediately.
I was twenty-four.
Pregnant.
Standing outside a hospital.
Beside me was a man I had not seen in seven years.
My former boyfriend.
Nathan Cole.
The man I believed had abandoned me after learning I was pregnant.
My knees almost gave out.
I stared at the photograph.
On the back was a date.
Three days before Lily was born.
And underneath it, in Diane's handwriting:
He never abandoned her. We made him leave.
I looked at Ethan.
“Why?”
He closed his eyes.
Then he said something that made the entire room disappear.
“Because Nathan knew what happened to my father.”
I stared at him.
“What happened to your father?”
Ethan looked at Diane.
She was silent.
May you like
And that silence told me there was another secret.
A much bigger one.
