Chapter 2 - THE DAUGHTER HE NEVER KNEWNathan’s face changed in stages.
Recognition.
Disbelief.
Then anger so deep it looked like fear.
“Grace?”
I stood slowly.
My shoulder hurt.
Lily clung to my dress.
Victoria backed away.
Nathan stared at Lily.
Then at me.
“She called me Daddy.”
I swallowed.
“Yes.”
His lips parted.
“How old is she?”
“Five.”
He closed his eyes.
Five years.
Exactly.
When he opened them again, his voice shook.
“Is she mine?”
“Yes.”
Victoria whispered:
“Nathan—”
He turned on her.
“What did you do?”
“She lied to you!”
“That is not an answer.”
Victoria pointed at me.
“She came here under a fake name.”
“Yes.”
“She infiltrated this house.”
“Yes.”
“She has a child she claims is yours!”
Nathan looked at Lily.
Then me.
“Claims?”
I reached into my apron pocket.
For eleven days, I had carried only one real document.
A sealed paternity test I had arranged using an old item of Nathan’s hair preserved in a watch box I still owned.
Not legally useful yet.
But informative.
I handed it over.
99.9999 percent probability.
Nathan read it.
Then sat down.
He looked at Lily.
“Can I…”
He stopped.
“Can I come closer?”
Lily hid behind me.
Good.
He did not force it.
Then he whispered:
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
That question hurt more than Victoria’s stick.
“I tried.”
His head snapped up.
“What?”
“Five years ago.”
“No.”
“I wrote.”
He stared.
“I called.”
“No.”
“Your father intercepted everything.”
His face emptied.
“My father?”
“And my uncle helped him.”
Nathan stood.
“My father told me you left.”
“I did leave.”
“He said you didn’t want the pregnancy.”
My eyes filled.
“He told you that?”
Nathan looked sick.
“Yes.”
I covered my mouth.
Five years of grief rearranged itself in seconds.
He thought I had chosen to erase our child.
I thought he had let me disappear.
Both of us had been living inside someone else’s lie.
Then Victoria said:
“This changes nothing.”
Nathan turned slowly.
“What?”
“The wedding.”
I almost laughed from shock.
She continued.
“This can be handled legally.”
Nathan stared at her.
“You attacked the mother of my child with a hockey stick.”
“She broke into our life!”
“No.”
His voice became very quiet.
“She was in my life before you.”
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That was the first crack in the engagement.
Not the last.
