Think carefully before you ruin her life.
I stared at the screen.
My hands began shaking.
Sarah whispered,
“I thought staying away protected you.”
I could barely speak.
“He used me to silence you.”
“Yes.”
That realization hurt more than the affair.
My daughter had spent a year believing her disappearance was protecting me.
Because my husband had convinced both of us we were too financially weak to resist him.
I asked,
“What happened with Rachel?”
Sarah looked at Noah.
“She contacted me.”
“What?”
“About four months ago.”
“How?”
“Dad had my old number blocked.”
“But Rachel found me through Mia.”
“Why?”
“She needed help.”
I stared.
Sarah continued.
Rachel had ended the affair after realizing Kevin was not leaving me.
He had promised he would.
Then he refused.
When Rachel threatened to tell me, Kevin told her she would get nothing.
He denied the baby might be his.
He said he would demand DNA testing.
Then, according to Sarah, he threatened to ruin Rachel professionally.
Rachel worked in accounting for a supplier.
Kevin knew people there.
She became afraid.
Still, she carried the pregnancy.
Noah was born three weeks earlier.
I stared at the baby.
My husband’s son.
Maybe.
I asked,
“Has there been a DNA test?”
Sarah nodded.
“Yes.”
My throat tightened.
“How?”
“Rachel paid for it after Noah was born.”
“Kevin?”
“No.”
“She had one of his old razors.”
I frowned.
Sarah shook her head.
“Not legally perfect.”
“But enough for private testing.”
“Probability is over ninety-nine percent.”
She pulled another document from her bag.
I read.
The words blurred.
