“What is she talking about?”
Mark stared at the envelope.
Then he looked at me.
And I knew, before he said a single word, that the birthday surprise I had planned for them was about to become the smallest secret in that entire house.
Because Claire wasn’t there simply because she was his ex-wife.
She was there because there was something about my husband’s past that could completely change the future of our family.
And I was about to hear it.
Part Two — The Secret Claire Came to Reveal
I stared at Claire.
Then at Mark.
Then at the envelope in his hand.
“What does my baby have to do with any of this?”
Claire opened her mouth, but Mark interrupted.
“Claire, not here.”
She looked at him with a mixture of anger and disappointment.
“You’ve been saying that for months.”
“Please.”
“No.”
Her voice was calm, but there was something final about it.
