Chapter 1: The Truth She Buried
Chapter 1: The Truth She Buried
The ultrasound slipped from his trembling hands.
"No..."
Ethan's voice barely escaped his lips.
He stared at the date printed across the top.
Eight months.
The child had survived.
Every word Sophia had told him over the past year crashed down around him.
Emily had never abandoned him.
She had never lost the baby.
She had never chosen another man.
Every lie had been carefully planted.
Emily lowered her eyes.
"I wrote you every week," she whispered.
"They all came back."
Ethan slowly turned toward Sophia.
"You intercepted my letters."
Sophia's silence answered him.
"I was protecting you," she finally said.
"From what?"
"From a maid who wanted your fortune."
Emily let out a broken laugh.
"My fortune?"
She held out her cracked hands.
"I've worked sixteen hours a day in this house while carrying your child."
The butler stepped forward.
"Sir... there is something you should see."
He placed a thick envelope on the table.
Inside were dozens of unopened letters.
Every one addressed to Ethan.
Every one written in Emily's handwriting.
Ethan opened the first.
I know you must hate me.
But our baby kicked today.
I wish you could have felt it.
His knees nearly gave out.
Sophia had stolen an entire year from them.
She hadn't just lied.
She had erased a family.
"I loved you," Ethan whispered.
May you like
Emily's tears finally fell.
"I never stopped."
