“I know, Mom,” I whisper, leaning forward. “I know everything.”
“Can we sit?” Mark says.
I follow him to the same place where I’d been sitting minutes ago with Colin.
Mark drags both hands over his face. “I’m sorry, Cecily. I hate being the one telling you this.”
He crosses his arms and looks at me. “I know you didn’t ask me to dig into your father’s past,” he says. “But I did it anyway. I wanted to make sure there wouldn’t be any more surprises. No hidden history or someone claiming to be his child, or anything like that. I also keep an eye on him from time to time.”
I stop breathing.
“Does he have other children?” I murmur.
Mark shakes his head. “No. Nothing like that,” he reassures.
But he doesn’t look relieved.
“Mark...” I whisper. “Then what did you find?”
Mark swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing. He draws in a deep breath and takes my hand.
“I found a lot of things, Cecily. From many years ago. And I don’t want to tell you unless you ask me to… I’ve had this information for months, and I never intended to have this conversation with you if it weren’t for what just happened.”
I close my eyes.Mark holds my hands, bracing me, as if he’s trying to absorb the impact before it reaches me.
“Maya’s mother wasn’t the first. And she wasn’t the last.”
His voice is careful, almost apologetic.
“Your father continued cheating on your mother. And the last time was ten days ago.”
He says it with such caution I know he’s afraid each word might be the one that breaks me.
“I already suspected,” I murmur. “When I had time to think about how he reacted... it crossed my mind. And I also think my mother knows, but she’d rather not change anything.”
Mark nods. “The woman is your parents’ neighbor,” he continues. “She’s twenty-eight, married to a man older than her, but not as old as your father.”
A wave of nausea rises in my throat.
“He arrived home early and found his wife and your father together—in a compromising position, in their bed.”
Mark goes on. “From what I was told, your father suddenly became unwell. His speech became slurred, something about him wasn’t right… and that’s when they called an ambulance.”
My breath leaves me in a shallow, trembling exhale. There’s a ringing in my ears.
Mark squeezes my hands again. “I’m so sorry, Cecily.”
I pull my hands free and wrap my arms around my body, trying to hold myself together.
“My mother?”
“According to the neighbors, she wasn’t home when it happened. But I know she’s been at the hospital with him every day since.”
I stand abruptly, running my hands through my hair before twisting it into a messy knot, using the strands themselves to secure it.
“How bad is it?” I ask, fighting the burn behind my eyes.
Mark draws in a breath. “I don’t have exact medical details to give you. But I managed to speak to someone who works at the hospital, and... it was serious. He spent almost a week in the ICU.”
