Levi was Ethan’s father.
At least, that was what I had always believed.
Ethan took a deep breath.
“Levi isn’t my biological father.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“He is my father,” Ethan said quickly. “He raised me. He was there for everything. He’s Dad in every way that matters.”
“But biologically?”
Sadie lowered her eyes.
“There was someone else.”
I looked at her.
“Who?”
She whispered:
“Sebastian.”
The name meant nothing to me.
Ethan had never mentioned it.
Not once.
“You’ve known this all these years?” I asked him.
“Yes.”
“And you never told me?”
“I was fifteen when Mom finally told me. I decided I didn’t want to know anything else.”
“Why?”
He looked toward Lily.
“Because I thought asking questions would somehow betray Dad.”
Sadie sat in the chair beside us.
“That was partly my fault.”
Ethan looked at her.
She continued.
“When Ethan was young, I was terrified that if he became curious about Sebastian, Levi would think he wasn’t enough.”
“That isn’t fair to either of them,” I said.
“I know that now.”
Ethan looked at me.
“I kept telling myself it didn’t matter. Levi raised me. Sebastian was just a name.”
Then he glanced at Lily again.
“But the second I saw that mark, it was like someone opened a door I had kept nailed shut for years.”
I finally understood.
“You weren’t looking at Lily because you doubted she was yours.”
“God, no.”
He reached for my hand.
“I looked at our daughter and saw a physical connection to a man I’ve never met.”
His voice broke.
“I didn’t know how to handle it.”
I looked down at Lily.
She was sleeping through all of it.
Completely unaware that one tiny mark had uncovered a secret buried for decades.
Then I looked at Ethan.
“No more secrets.”
He nodded immediately.
“No more.”
I turned to Sadie.
“And I think we need to know who Sebastian was.”
Ethan stiffened.
“No.”
“Why?”
“I can’t do that to Dad.”
