CHAPTER 4: THE TRUTH RETURNS
The house felt different without the guests.
Quieter.
Honest.
Caleb sat across from Nora in the small library, Lily asleep on the couch between them.
“She’s my niece,” he said finally.
Nora nodded.
“I think you already knew.”
“I hoped,” Caleb admitted. “But hope isn’t proof.”
“What happens now?” Nora asked.
Caleb looked at Lily.
Then back at Nora.
“That depends,” he said. “On what you want.”
Nora blinked.
“I’m her mother,” she said instinctively.
Caleb didn’t argue.
“I know.”
Silence settled between them.
Then—
“I don’t want to take her from you,” he added quietly. “But she deserves to know where she comes from. And… she deserves more than what I’ve been blind to.”
Nora’s eyes filled.
“I never wanted anything from your family,” she said. “I just wanted her safe.”
Caleb nodded.
“And you gave her that.”
May you like
For the first time, there was no distance in his voice.
Only respect.
