Chapter 2 - The Truth He Buried

"Take it back."

Mark's voice was low.

Margaret did not move.

"Mom, take it back. Right now."

Lily looked from her father to her grandmother.

"Grandma?"

Sarah pulled Lily close, but the girl pushed away.

"What does she mean?"

Mark laughed once. It was a bad sound. Too quick. Too empty.

"She doesn't mean anything."

Margaret's eyes filled with tears.

"I wish that were true."

Mark grabbed the back of a chair.

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"I was with you when you opened the DNA results."

The color drained from his face.

Austin slowly lifted his head.

Sarah stared at her husband.

"DNA results?"

Mark said nothing.

Margaret kept going.

"Lily was seven months old. Melissa had been acting strange for weeks. You found messages on her old phone. She swore they meant nothing. You didn't believe her."

"Mom."

"You bought a test in another county because you were afraid somebody in town would recognize your name."

"Stop."

"The result said you were not Lily's biological father."

Lily's breathing changed.

"Dad?"

Mark looked at her, but the words would not come.

That silence answered her.

She backed away.

"You knew?"

"Lily—"

"You knew my whole life?"

Mark finally moved toward her.

"It never mattered to me."

She laughed through sudden tears.

"Five minutes ago, blood mattered more than anything."

Nobody spoke.

Austin looked down again.

Margaret pressed both palms to the table.

"Your first wife admitted the affair. Two weeks later, she left. Not with Lily. Without her."

Sarah whispered, "She abandoned her?"

Margaret nodded.

"Mark was twenty-eight years old, terrified, furious, and holding a baby who had no idea why her mother was gone."

She looked at her son.

"Do you remember what you told me?"

Mark shut his eyes.

"Don't."

"You held Lily against your chest and said, 'I don't care whose blood she has. I'm the only father she knows.'"

Lily covered her mouth.

Margaret pointed toward Austin.

"You chose one child because love was bigger than DNA. Then tonight you used DNA like a knife against another."

Mark's jaw trembled.

"It isn't the same."

"Why?"

He could not answer.

Margaret took one step closer.

"Tell him why."

Mark looked at Austin.

The boy stood there with Mark's stained sweatshirt hanging from one hand.

"Austin..."

Austin gave a tiny nod, as if he were helping Mark finish a difficult sentence.

"It's okay. You already said it."

"No, it isn't okay."

"I'm tired."

Austin set the sweatshirt back in the bag.

Sarah reached for him.

"Honey—"

"Can I go upstairs?"

She nodded.

Austin walked toward the stairs.

Mark watched him go.

Then Lily spoke behind him.

Her voice was barely louder than a whisper.

"If I'm not your blood either... am I only your stepdaughter now?"

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Mark turned.

And for the first time that night, he looked afraid.