Sophie whispered one name.

“Laura.”

I hadn’t heard that name in twenty years.

My entire body went cold.

“Is Mia Laura’s daughter?”

Sophie wouldn’t look at me.

That was answer enough.

The baby suddenly didn’t feel like the biggest secret in the house anymore.

Whatever Sophie had discovered about her father had somehow led her back to the one woman I had spent two decades trying to erase from my memory.

“Where does Laura live?”

“I promised Mia I wouldn’t involve her.”

“Sophie.”

My daughter closed her eyes.

Then she gave me the address.

It was in the same city where Daniel and I had lived during the earliest years of our marriage.

The city we had abruptly left twenty years earlier.

The city I never wanted to return to.

The following morning, I told Sophie I had errands to run.

She obviously didn’t believe me.

But she didn’t stop me.

A few hours later, I stood outside a faded yellow house.

I knocked.

Laura opened the door.

The moment I saw her, twenty years vanished.

Suddenly, I was young again.

Pregnant with Sophie.

Standing in the doorway of my bedroom.

And finding Laura with my husband.

That affair had nearly destroyed my marriage.

Maybe being pregnant was the reason I stayed.

Maybe I was simply terrified of raising a child alone.

Whatever the reason, I had given Daniel one condition.

Laura disappeared.

No phone calls.

No messages.

No secret meetings.

Nothing.

A month later, Daniel and I moved away and started over.

Now Laura was standing in front of me again.

“Karen.”

“Laura.”

Neither of us smiled.

“I’m looking for Mia.”

Laura’s expression instantly changed.

“How do you know my daughter?”

My daughter.

The words struck harder than I expected.

“Sophie went looking for her months ago.”

Understanding slowly spread across Laura’s face.

“You really don’t know.”

It was the second time someone had said that to me.

“Know what?”

Laura stepped backward.

Then she said the words that changed everything.

“Mia was Daniel’s.”

I stared at her.

“What?”

“Daniel never knew. I never told him.”

I could barely process what she was saying.

Laura continued.

“Sophie found my name among some of Daniel’s old things about six months ago. She contacted Mia. They took a DNA test.”

My knees almost gave out beneath me.

“That’s why Sophie took the job at the resort?”

Laura nodded.

Sophie had discovered that she had a half sister.

And she had known for months.

“Has Mia contacted you recently?”

Laura’s jaw tightened.

“Barely. She left after we had an argument.”