Chapter 1
I watched my 4-year-old daughter smile as the waitress handed her a cupcake.
Seconds later, she was on the ground crying.
My mother-in-law stood over her like SHE was the one who'd been wronged.
The cupcake was smashed beside Lily’s tiny shoes.
“Grandma said I’m not supposed to celebrate with the family.”
My stomach dropped.
It was my sister’s wedding reception, and I had stepped away for less than five minutes.
My mother-in-law, Diane, folded her arms.
“She grabbed dessert before dinner. I corrected her. Stop making everything dramatic.”
Then the waitress bent down to help Lily.
That was when she noticed something stuck underneath the fallen cupcake wrapper.
A small folded photograph.
Diane’s face went completely pale.
“Give me that.”
I picked it up first.
The photo showed Diane standing beside a man I had never seen before.
My husband was in the picture too.
He looked about six years old.
On the back was a handwritten date—and two words:
REAL FATHER.
I stared at Diane.
“What is this?”
She reached for the photograph.
“It means nothing.”
But Lily suddenly pointed toward Diane’s purse.
“There’s a letter with Daddy’s name in there too.”
Diane stopped moving.
And for the first time all night, she looked terrified.
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Because suddenly, I knew she hadn’t knocked that cupcake away because Lily broke a rule.
She was trying to stop my daughter from finding something hidden beneath the dessert table.
