I felt sick to my stomach. And then he said the sentence that made me go from horrified to furious in under two seconds.
“When I saw the diagnosis, I realized I could use it.”
“What?”
“Claire would think I panicked because of the baby.”
I stared at my own twin brother like I was seeing him for the first time in thirty-six years. “You were going to let your wife believe you rejected your own daughter over a medical condition — instead of telling her the truth?”
His eyes filled. “She would never have to know I’d already failed her.”
“To protect your pride.”
“To protect her from me.”
“Daniel, that is the exact same thing.”
He put his face in his hands.
For a few seconds I genuinely didn’t know if I wanted to hug him or drag him out of my house by his collar. I loved my brother. In that moment, sitting three feet from him, I hated what he had done more than I had ever hated anything.
