Chapter 4: The Daughter Who Was Never Supposed to Exist
The first thing I noticed was that Christopher stopped trying to defend himself.
That frightened me more than any confession could have.
For twenty-eight years, my husband had always had an answer.
If the car made a strange noise, Christopher knew what was wrong.
If one of our sons had a problem, Christopher knew how to fix it.
If life became difficult, he became the person everyone leaned on.
But that morning, standing in the nursery we had prepared for a child we never thought would come, he looked like a man who had run out of places to hide.
“Tell me the truth,” I said.
My voice was quiet.
Too quiet.
“What happened twenty-two years ago?””
Christopher stared at Daisy.
“She wasn’t supposed to exist.””
The words made my stomach drop.
I looked at the crib.
At the tiny baby sleeping peacefully.
“What does that mean?””
He closed his eyes.
“I don’t mean that the way it sounds.””
“Then explain it.””
He sat down slowly.
“I mean that everyone believed Lauren’s baby was gone.””
I felt a chill.
“Everyone?””
He nodded.
“Me. Lauren. The people around us.””
“You said you didn’t know if she had a baby.””
“I didn’t.””
“Then how could everyone believe anything?””
Christopher looked away.
“Because Lauren told me she lost the baby.””
I stared at him.
“When?””
“A few weeks after she disappeared.””
My heart started racing.
“She contacted you?””
“Yes.””
“And you never told me?””
His expression changed.
“I thought it was the past.””
“The past?””
I almost couldn’t believe him.
“Christopher, a woman you loved told you she lost your child.””
“I was devastated.””
“Then why hide it?””
He rubbed his face.
“Because when I met you, I wanted a fresh start.””
The sentence hurt more than I expected.
A fresh start.
As if I had been the beginning of his life and everything before me could be erased.
But it couldn’t.
People weren’t books.
You couldn’t tear out old pages and pretend the story started later.
“What exactly did Lauren say?””
Christopher was silent.
I waited.
Finally, he answered.
“She said the baby was born too early.””
I held my breath.
“And?””
“She said the baby didn’t survive.””
My eyes moved toward Daisy.
A baby who was supposed to be impossible.
A baby who had somehow arrived at our door.
“Did you see a death certificate?””
“No.””
“Did you see a hospital record?””
“No.””
“Did you see anything?””
His silence was enough.
“No,” I whispered.
“You believed her.””
“Yes.””
“Why?””
Christopher looked at me.
“Because I loved her.””
The honesty of that answer hurt.
Not because he had loved someone before me.
I knew that.
Everyone had a past.
But because there was a part of his life where another woman had held a piece of his heart so powerful that even after twenty-two years, her name could still shake him.
“What happened after that?””
“I never heard from her again.””
“Until now.””
“Yes.””
I walked away from him.
I needed distance.
I needed air.
Because every time I looked at Daisy, my heart wanted to open.
And every time I looked at Christopher, my heart wanted to close.
The two feelings were tearing me apart.
A knock came from the front door.
Both of us froze.
Neither of us had told anyone we were home.
Christopher looked at the clock.
Almost seven in the morning.
“I’ll get it,” he said.
“No.””
He stopped.
“I will.””
I walked toward the door.
When I opened it, I saw a woman standing on my porch.
She looked to be around fifty.
Her hair was messy.
Her face was pale.
And the second she saw me, tears filled her eyes.
“Rebecca Hayes?””
My body went still.
“Yes.””
The woman looked past me.
Toward the inside of the house.
Toward the nursery.
“Is she here?””
My heart began pounding.
“Who are you?””
The woman took a shaky breath.
“My name is Emily Carter.””
I waited.
She looked terrified.
“I know what happened.””
“What happened?””
Her eyes filled with guilt.
“Daisy.””
The name alone made my chest tighten.
“How do you know Daisy?””
She looked over my shoulder.
May you like
Then whispered:
“Because I was there the night she was born.””
