“I was trying to protect you,” he said desperately. “And Carol.”
I stared at him in disbelief.
“She doesn’t know,” he said quickly. “Emily, I swear to you—Carol believes this is her biological baby.”
Outside the room, I could still hear her emotional voice on the phone with our mother.
Completely innocent.
Completely unaware.
Tears blurred my vision.
Before I could speak again, Carol walked back into the room smiling.
Then she froze.
Because she immediately sensed something was wrong.
“Why do you both look like that?” she asked nervously.
Nobody answered.
Slowly, Paul handed her the phone.
I watched her face change as she read.
Confusion.
Shock.
Then devastation.
Her knees buckled so suddenly that Paul had to catch her.
“No,” she whispered.
She reread the messages again and again.
“No… no…”
Tears poured down her cheeks.
“You lied to me?” she whispered, though Rob wasn’t even there yet.
Then she looked at me.
And seeing the pain in my face seemed to destroy her even more.
“I didn’t know,” she cried immediately. “Emily, I swear to God, I didn’t know.”
I believed her instantly.
