Chapter 3 - THE DAUGHTER SHE DIDN'T GIVE BIRTH TO
Hannah forgot how to breathe.
“Where are you?”
“At Grandma's.”
“Is your grandmother there?”
“No. Grandpa needed something from the pharmacy.”
Hannah wiped her cheeks.
“Lily, listen to me. I'm coming.”
“No.”
The word came too quickly.
“Hannah… just answer me.”
The girl had called her Hannah for twelve years.
Never Mom.
Hannah had never asked her to.
Lily's biological mother, Caroline, had died from an aneurysm when Lily was four. Hannah entered Carter's life fourteen months later and understood immediately that loving a grieving child did not entitle anyone to replace her mother.
So she became something else.
The person who learned to braid hair from online tutorials.
The woman who slept on Lily's bedroom floor during thunderstorms.
The person who knew why Mother's Day made her quiet.
The one Lily called when she got her first period because Carter panicked and bought three grocery bags of completely unrelated products.
Now that child was asking whether Hannah planned to vanish.
“I am leaving your father,” Hannah said carefully. “I am not leaving you.”
“But I'm his daughter.”
“And?”
A sob slipped through the phone.
“He cheated on you.”
Hannah closed her eyes.
“You know?”
“I heard Grandma yelling at him yesterday.”
Of course.
Rebecca Sutton had learned two days earlier because Hannah believed she deserved warning before the divorce became public.
Rebecca had cried.
Then she'd asked for Brooke's address.
Hannah had wisely refused.
“Lily—”
“Are you going to take the baby?”
Hannah looked down.
“Yes.”
“And then I'll only see her whenever Dad lets me?”
“No.”
“Hannah, you can't promise that.”
“Yes, I can.”
“How?”
“Because she's your sister before she's anyone's custody arrangement.”
Silence.
Then:
“Can I come with you tonight?”
Hannah's heart cracked.
“I'm staying at Aunt Claire's for a while.”
“Can I come?”
“Your father has to know where you are.”
“Fine.”
Lily's voice hardened.
“Tell him.”
Twenty-five minutes later, Hannah arrived at Rebecca and Douglas Sutton's Upper West Side townhouse.
Lily was waiting on the steps with a backpack.
She ran down before the SUV completely stopped.
Hannah barely got the door open before the teenager wrapped both arms around her.
Careful of the baby.
Always careful.
Hannah buried her face in Lily's hair.
“I'm here.”
Lily cried against her shoulder.
“You promised when I was seven.”
Hannah remembered.
A nightmare.
Lily had dreamed Hannah disappeared like Caroline.
Hannah had sat beside her until dawn.
I'm not going anywhere just because things get difficult.
“I remember.”
“Then don't break it.”
“I won't.”
Headlights swept across them.
Carter's car.
Lily stiffened.
Carter climbed out before his driver could open the door.
“Hannah!”
Lily stepped between them.
The movement stunned all three.
“Lily,” Carter said. “Go inside.”
“No.”
“This is between my wife and me.”
“No, Dad. You made it about all of us.”
His face tightened.
“Who told you?”
“Grandma.”
Carter looked toward the townhouse.
“Unbelievable.”
“Don't blame Grandma because you cheated.”
“Watch your tone.”
“Watch your marriage.”
“Lily.”
Hannah touched the girl's shoulder.
“Go sit in the car.”
“But—”
“Please.”
Lily hesitated, then obeyed.
Carter waited until the door closed.
“You're taking my daughter now?”
“She's spending tonight with me because she's terrified.”
“You aren't her mother.”
The sentence landed exactly where he intended.
Hannah went still.
Carter immediately regretted it.
“Hannah, I didn't—”
“No.”
Her voice shook for the first time all evening.
“You did.”
She looked through the window at Lily.
“For twelve years, whenever she was sick, I was enough of a mother. Whenever you were operating, I was enough. Parent-teacher conferences? Enough. Nightmares? Enough. Therapy? Enough. College applications? Enough.”
“Hannah—”
“But the minute I stop being useful to you, biology becomes important.”
“I was angry.”
“And that's when people often tell the truth they keep hidden when they're comfortable.”
He stared at her.
Rain began again.
“Hannah, come home.”
“No.”
“Please.”
“No.”
“Then tell me what I have to do.”
She studied the man she'd loved for more than a decade.
Carter had always been good at fixing things.
A blocked artery.
A ruptured vessel.
A damaged valve.
He believed every crisis had a procedure.
But there was no surgery for this.
“Go home,” Hannah said.
“And tomorrow morning, make your own breakfast.”
She turned away.
“Hannah.”
She stopped.
“I'm sorry.”
Her shoulders trembled.
She didn't turn around.
“So am I.”
The SUV pulled away five minutes later.
Lily sat beside her.
Neither spoke until they reached Claire's apartment in Tribeca.
Then Lily noticed Hannah pressing a hand against her abdomen.
“You okay?”
“She's kicking.”
Lily's eyes dropped.
“Can I?”
Hannah took her hand and placed it against her belly.
A tiny kick answered.
Lily smiled through wet eyelashes.
“She's mad.”
“Apparently.”
“Runs in the family.”
Hannah laughed.
It surprised her.
It was small.
Broken.
But real.
Then another pain tightened across her abdomen.
This one was different.
Hannah inhaled sharply.
“Hannah?”
“It's fine.”
It wasn't.
Warm liquid suddenly ran down her leg.
Lily looked at the floor.
Then at Hannah.
Her face went white.
“Hannah…”
May you like
Hannah followed her gaze.
A thin streak of blood had appeared beneath the hem of her dress.
