The room went completely still.
“You what?” My voice was barely a whisper.
“I was protecting you,” she insisted. “You work hard. You deserve to know—”
“They’re my daughters,” I cut her off. “And even if they weren’t, how dare you?”
She tried to speak again, but I couldn’t hear it. All I could see was Emily’s face in my mind. The exhaustion. The way she’d stared out the window some nights. The way she’d asked me once, “Do you trust me?”
And I had laughed. Said, “Of course.”
But had I shown her that?
“Did you accuse her?” I asked.
“I didn’t accuse,” Mom said quickly. “I just suggested a DNA test. For peace of mind.”
Peace of mind.
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