And slowly, horrifyingly, recognition spread across his face.
His lips parted.
“Daniel?”
I could barely speak.
“What?”
Jamie’s eyes filled with tears.
Then he whispered the words that turned my entire world upside down.
“That’s not Claire’s father.”
I felt my heart stop.
“Then who is he?”
Jamie pointed at the photograph with a trembling finger.
And said:
“Daniel… that’s our dad.”
But before I could respond, Evelyn suddenly stood.
“No,” she whispered.
She was staring at the birth certificate in my hands.
Her entire body trembled.
“Daniel, there’s something else.”
I turned toward her.
She looked at Jamie.
Then toward the stairs where my daughter slept.
And with tears streaming down her face, she said something even more terrifying.
“The baby in your house isn’t the first Sophie.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“What are you talking about?”
Evelyn reached into the wooden box one final time.
