I stared at the baby.
“Are you telling me this is your child?”
He flinched.
“My child? Mom, you don’t know anything about your husband.”
The words made my stomach tighten.
I asked him to sit down, but instead he gently placed the baby in my arms and opened the suitcase on the living-room floor.
Inside were bundles of letters, bank statements, photographs and legal documents.
The pictures showed Richard with a woman I had never seen. In several of them, he had his arm around her while a young girl stood between them. There were birthday celebrations, school events and family dinners spanning more than a decade.
“What is all this?” I asked.
“The woman’s name is Diane,” Ethan explained. “Dad has been involved with her for twelve years. They have a daughter together. He pays Diane’s rent and covers the girl’s school tuition.”
I could barely breathe.
