Chapter 2
I stared at my mother-in-law, waiting for her to explain what she had just said.
The baby isn't the secret.
Those words made no sense.
There was a pregnant woman in my backyard.
My husband's name was printed on a DNA report.
And somehow Evelyn was telling me there was something worse.
I looked down at the paperwork.
My hands were shaking so badly that the pages rattled.
"Somebody needs to start talking."
Marcus stepped forward.
"Claire, I can explain."
I looked straight at him.
"Then do it."
He opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Nia lowered her eyes.
Evelyn let out a bitter breath.
"That's exactly what I expected."
Marcus turned toward her.
"Mom, stop."
"No, Marcus. You have had enough chances."
I looked at the medical report again.
The page identified Marcus as the person who had submitted a DNA sample.
But the other name wasn't visible until I unfolded the attached sheet.
I moved the paper.
Then stopped.
The second name was not Nia.
It was someone called Daniel Price.
My eyebrows pulled together.
"What is this?"
Marcus looked away.
Nia took a small step closer.
"It's a genetic relationship test."
"I can see that."
I pointed toward the document.
"Who is Daniel Price?"
Nobody answered.
My anger rose again.
"WHO IS HE?"
Evelyn closed her eyes.
"He's the man who may be Marcus's biological father."
The words struck me so hard that I almost dropped the papers.
For a moment, I simply stared at her.
Then I looked at Marcus.
His face was white.
"What?"
Evelyn nodded slowly.
"Daniel Price is the man I've spent thirty-eight years trying to forget."
I shook my head.
"No. Marcus's father was Anthony Johnson."
Anthony had supposedly abandoned Evelyn when Marcus was two.
I'd heard the story countless times.
Evelyn always said Anthony disappeared after stealing money from the family.
Marcus rarely talked about him.
Whenever our children asked about their grandfather, Marcus changed the subject.
Now I understood why Evelyn looked terrified whenever someone mentioned the past.
I turned toward her.
"Are you saying Anthony wasn't his father?"
Evelyn's eyes filled with tears.
"I'm saying the truth was hidden from Marcus long before he met you."
Marcus suddenly slammed his hand against the wooden railing.
"Stop telling my life like it's your story!"
Several guests gasped.
I flinched.
Marcus noticed.
His expression softened immediately.
"Claire, I'm sorry."
I moved away from him.
"No. You don't get to shout at everyone and then apologize."
Nia quietly reached for the gift bag.
"Maybe I should leave."
I turned toward her.
"Nobody is leaving until I understand why you're here."
She stopped.
Her eyes filled.
"My name is Nia Price."
I looked down at the report.
Price.
The same last name.
My stomach tightened.
"Daniel Price is your husband?"
She shook her head.
"He's my father."
I stared at her.
"Then what does that make you to Marcus?"
She swallowed.
"Potentially his younger sister."
The entire backyard went silent.
Someone behind me whispered, "Oh, Lord."
I could barely breathe.
I had accused a pregnant woman of sleeping with my husband.
And she had come to tell him they might share a father.
Shame flooded my face.
I looked at Nia.
Her eyes were wet.
I wanted to apologize immediately.
But I still didn't understand why Marcus had been hiding her.
I turned toward him.
"How long have you known?"
He looked down.
"Six weeks."
My heart sank.
"Six weeks?"
"Claire—"
"You've known for six weeks that you might have a sister?"
He nodded.
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I didn't know how."
I laughed bitterly.
"That's not an answer."
He rubbed his face.
"I was trying to figure it out before bringing it into our home."
I stared at him.
"Our home?"
My voice cracked.
"Marcus, I'm your wife."
"I know."
"We've been married twelve years."
"I know."
"Then why am I learning your family secrets from a stranger at our barbecue?"
He looked at Evelyn.
For the first time, I saw something deeper than embarrassment.
Fear.
Resentment.
And pain.
Evelyn looked down at her hands.
"Because I asked him to keep quiet."
My head snapped toward her.
"You WHAT?"
She swallowed.
"I told him he needed to be certain before upsetting his family."
I stared.
"So you both lied to me?"
Marcus shook his head.
"I wasn't trying to hurt you."
"But you did."
He closed his eyes.
Nia moved closer.
"I'm sorry, Claire."
I turned toward her.
She was crying now.
"I didn't come here to ruin your marriage."
I looked at her pregnant stomach.
She placed one hand over it.
"I came because my father is dying."
My anger disappeared for a moment.
"What?"
Nia nodded.
"He has advanced heart disease."
She wiped her cheeks.
"He asked me to find Marcus."
Evelyn lowered her head.
I looked at her.
"Why?"
Nia took a shaky breath.
"Because he believes Marcus was taken from him."
The words landed heavily.
Marcus stared at the ground.
I turned toward Evelyn.
"Taken?"
She didn't answer.
Nia continued.
"My father told me he had a son in 1988."
She looked at Marcus.
"He said the child's mother disappeared before he could find them."
Evelyn's face changed.
"That's not what happened."
Nia turned sharply.
"Then tell us what did."
For several seconds, Evelyn remained silent.
Then she whispered, "Daniel didn't disappear."
My chest tightened.
"What?"
She looked at Marcus.
"He was forced out of our lives."
Marcus raised his head.
"By who?"
Evelyn began trembling.
"Your grandfather."
I felt cold.
Marcus's grandfather, Walter Johnson, had died ten years earlier.
He'd been a respected businessman.
A church elder.
A man everyone praised.
Evelyn had always spoken of him with complicated respect.
Now she looked terrified of his memory.
Marcus stepped closer.
"What did Grandpa do?"
Evelyn wiped her cheeks.
"He threatened Daniel."
"With what?"
She couldn't answer.
Nia reached inside the bag and removed the wrapped package.
She placed it on the table.
"My father gave me this."
Marcus stared at it.
"What is it?"
Nia slowly unwrapped the paper.
Inside was an old photograph.
It showed a young Evelyn standing beside a handsome Black man in a military uniform.
His arm was wrapped around her waist.
She was smiling.
A real smile.
The kind I had never seen in her old family photographs.
Nia turned the picture over.
On the back was a handwritten message.
To Evelyn, my forever girl. Love, Daniel.
Marcus stared at it.
Then he looked at his mother.
"All my life, you told me my father abandoned us."
Evelyn began sobbing.
"I know."
"Was any of it true?"
She lowered her head.
And whispered the words that broke something inside my husband.
"No, baby. He never abandoned you."
Then Nia took another photograph from the bag.
This one showed a hospital nursery.
A newborn boy lay inside a bassinet.
On the back, someone had written:
MARCUS PRICE — JUNE 14, 1988.
I looked at my husband.
His birth certificate said Marcus Johnson.
His birthday matched.
May you like
But the surname didn't.
And suddenly I understood why Evelyn had tried so desperately to keep the envelope hidden.
