Chapter 2: The Name That Stopped the World
Carol grabbed a napkin and pressed it to her face, shaking with rage.
"Who do you think you are?" she hissed.
The man didn't flinch.
He was tall, calm, and he looked at Ryan the way you look at someone you've been patient with for far too long.
"My name is Daniel," he said.
"And I'm Lily's father."
The yard went completely still.
I felt the ground shift under me.
Ryan's face went the color of ash.
"Daniel, this isn't the place—"
"You've had eight years," Daniel said quietly.
"You told me she wasn't mine.
You told Emily I was nobody.
You let your mother bully a little girl at her own birthday party." He looked at Lily, still holding her frosting-covered napkin, eyes wide and frightened.
"She deserves better than this family."
Carol pointed a trembling finger at him.
"You have no right to be here.
Ryan, call someone.
Get him out."
But Ryan didn't move.
Because Daniel reached into his jacket and pulled out an envelope.
He set it on the table next to what was left of the birthday cake.
"I had a DNA test done six months ago," he said.
"Ryan already knew.
He's had a copy since March."
May you like
I turned to look at my husband.
Ryan wouldn't meet my eyes.
