“By letting people think you cheated?”
Tears slid down her cheeks. “I didn’t know what else to do. My mom said if the truth came out, it would ruin everything.”
I let out a slow breath.
“They’d rather my wife wear the scarlet letter,” I said quietly, “than admit the truth about their own bloodline.”
“I thought I was protecting you.”
Raiden was ours in every sense; he just carried more of the grandmother they erased.
“When I finally told the doctor the truth about my family, they sent us to a genetic counselor,” Anna continued. “She looked at my results and said, ‘Anna… your body has carried two stories since before you were born.'”
“That’s… interesting,” I said.
“She explained it simply — sometimes a woman absorbs a twin early on, and she can carry two sets of DNA. Rare, but real.”
I nodded.
‘Anna… your body has carried two stories since before you were born.’
“But if I’d told anyone, my family would have to admit everything they’d spent decades hiding. They would rather have people think I cheated on you than the truth.”
I reached for her, but she shrank away.
“They told me the truth would ruin the boys,” she whispered, staring at the boys. “So I tried to keep quiet. But I can’t keep doing this. I’m so tired. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
“They told me the truth would ruin the boys.”
I pulled her close, my eyes burning. “You’ve been carrying shame that was never yours. Your grandmother was born out of love, Anna, as were you. And if your family can’t acknowledge that, then my sons are better off without them.”
I pulled out my phone.
“Henry, don’t,” Anna whispered.
“No,” I said quietly. “Not anymore.”
I put her mother on speaker.
She answered on the second ring. “Anna? What now?”
“Henry, don’t.”
