Chapter 2
I will never forget the way Marcus looked at me.
He wasn't angry.
Not yet.
He looked like a man standing at the edge of a cliff, waiting to find out whether the ground beneath him was real.
"Nia," he repeated, "what is my mother talking about?"
I glanced at Lily.
She was still holding his hand.
Her cheeks were wet.
Her little white bows had started slipping from her braids.
I knew that whatever happened next, I couldn't allow my daughter to become the center of another public confrontation.
"Not here," I whispered.
Evelyn laughed.
"Of course. Now she wants privacy."
I turned toward her.
"You have already hurt Lily enough."
"Truth hurts sometimes."
"No," I answered. "Cruelty hurts. And you've always been good at that."
A few people gasped.
Evelyn's face hardened.
Marcus stepped between us.
"Mom, stop talking."
She stared at him.
"After everything I've done for you?"
"Especially after everything you've done."
He lifted Lily again.
Then he looked at me.
"We're leaving."
Vanessa reached toward his sleeve.
"Marcus, please. You need to hear the whole story."
He pulled away.
"Then you can tell it to someone else."
We walked down the center aisle together.
I could feel the eyes of the congregation following us.
Some people looked concerned.
Others whispered behind their hands.
I heard someone mention Lily's name.
I wanted to turn around and tell every person in that church that my daughter was innocent.
Instead, I kept walking.
Outside, the morning sunlight felt painfully bright.
Marcus opened the back door of our SUV and secured Lily in her car seat.
I knelt beside her.
"Sweetheart, Daddy and I need to talk when we get home."
She nodded.
"Is Daddy mad at me?"
Marcus immediately crouched beside me.
"No, princess."
He took her little hand.
"Nothing you said was wrong."
"Grandma said you might not want me anymore."
I felt my stomach drop.
Marcus closed his eyes.
For a moment, his jaw trembled.
Then he looked directly at her.
"Lily, listen carefully."
She sniffled.
"I love you because you're my daughter. Nothing Grandma says can change that."
"But she said—"
"I know."
He kissed her forehead.
"And she was wrong."
Lily wrapped her arms around his neck again.
Watching them, I felt something break inside me.
Marcus had been there for every important moment in Lily's life.
He had learned how to braid her hair when I was working late.
He stayed awake beside her bed whenever she was sick.
He knew she hated the crust on her sandwiches.
He knew she slept better with her stuffed rabbit tucked beneath her arm.
He had taught her to ride a bicycle.
He had cried when she called him Daddy for the first time.
And now his mother was trying to convince him that none of that mattered.
The drive home was silent.
Lily fell asleep after fifteen minutes.
Marcus kept his eyes on the road.
I watched his hands tighten around the steering wheel.
Finally, he spoke.
"How long have you known?"
I stared at him.
"Known what?"
"Nia."
His voice cracked.
"Please don't make me ask twice."
I swallowed.
"Marcus, there are things about my past that I've never told you."
He nodded slowly.
"I figured that out."
I looked toward the back seat.
"Can we wait until Lily isn't listening?"
He didn't answer.
But he drove the rest of the way home without another question.
When we arrived, I carried Lily upstairs.
I changed her into comfortable clothes and tucked her into bed.
Before leaving, I kissed her cheek.
She opened her eyes.
"Mommy?"
"Yes, baby?"
"Do I have another daddy?"
I froze.
There it was.
The question I had dreaded for five years.
I sat beside her.
"Sweetheart, families can have different stories about how they began."
She looked confused.
I took her hand.
"Sometimes a child's biological father and the daddy who raises her are the same person. Sometimes they're different."
Her eyes widened.
"Which one is Daddy Marcus?"
My throat tightened.
"He's the daddy who loves you, takes care of you, and has been there since you were tiny."
She thought about that.
Then asked, "Is that the important kind?"
I nearly started crying.
"Yes, baby. That's a very important kind."
She smiled faintly.
"Good. Because I love him."
I kissed her again.
"I know."
Downstairs, Marcus was standing beside the living room window.
He hadn't removed his suit jacket.
When I entered, he turned.
"Tell me."
I sat on the sofa.
My hands were shaking.
"Before I met you, I was involved with someone named Daniel Reed."
Marcus remained silent.
"He was charming at first. Successful. Generous. Everyone thought I was lucky."
I stared at the floor.
"But after a while, he became controlling."
I remembered the arguments.
The accusations.
The way Daniel checked my phone.
The way he convinced me that my friends didn't care about me.
"He hated when I spent time away from him," I continued.
"He questioned every conversation I had with another man."
Marcus slowly sat opposite me.
"Why didn't you tell me about him?"
"Because I wanted that part of my life to stay buried."
He waited.
I forced myself to continue.
"When I finally left Daniel, I discovered I was pregnant."
Marcus's face went still.
I watched the truth settle over him.
"Lily."
I nodded.
"Yes."
He leaned back.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then he asked the question I knew was coming.
"Is Daniel her biological father?"
I felt tears roll down my face.
"Yes."
Marcus closed his eyes.
I moved toward him.
"Please understand. When we met, I was already pregnant. You knew that."
He nodded.
"I knew."
"You knew I wasn't ready to talk about her biological father."
"I did."
"And you told me it didn't matter."
Marcus opened his eyes.
"Because it didn't."
I stared at him.
He looked devastated.
"But Nia, you told me the man who fathered Lily wanted nothing to do with her."
I swallowed.
"At the time, I believed he didn't."
"What does that mean?"
I hesitated.
Marcus leaned forward.
"Nia, what happened after you left him?"
I wiped my face.
"He tried to contact me several times."
Marcus stared at me.
"And?"
"I ignored him."
"Why?"
"Because I was afraid of him."
His expression softened for a moment.
Then he asked, "Did you ever tell him about the pregnancy?"
My silence answered him.
Marcus stood.
He walked toward the window.
I could see him struggling to control his emotions.
"You never told him?"
"No."
He turned.
"And you never told me that?"
"I was trying to protect Lily."
Marcus looked at me for a long time.
"From what?"
I took a shaky breath.
"From the man Daniel really is."
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
An unfamiliar number appeared.
I ignored it.
The phone rang again.
Then a message arrived.
I opened it.
My entire body went cold.
It was a photograph of Lily standing outside our church that morning.
Underneath were six words.
"Tell Marcus before I tell him."
Marcus noticed my expression.
"What is it?"
I slowly handed him the phone.
He read the message.
Then looked at me.
"Nia, who sent this?"
I could barely speak.
"I think Daniel found us."
And for the first time that day, the anger disappeared from Marcus's face.
May you like
It was replaced by something much worse.
Fear.
