Chapter 8: The Word That Shattered Everything
The room went still.
Clara stared at her as if the words belonged to another language.
“No…”
“You are.”
“No,” Clara repeated, shaking her head harder now. “No, that’s impossible.”
Madeline moved closer carefully, like approaching a wounded animal.
“They took you from me after I gave birth. They told me you stopped breathing.”
Clara looked toward Richard.
And what she saw on his face terrified her more than the words themselves.
Because he looked like a man who had spent decades running from the truth.
“You knew?” Clara whispered to him.
Richard swallowed hard.
“Yes.”
The single word shattered everything.
Madeline stared at him in horror.
“You knew she was alive?”
“I found out later.”
“When?”
He could not answer immediately… Continue Reading ⬇️
