Daphne jerked her head up, her gaze latching onto her mother. The next second she shot to her feet and ran to her.
“Mom!” Her voice trembled, cracking.“Mom, I’m in shock!”
Every trace of Nina’s own pain, panic, exhaustion vanished in an instant. Her heart stalled.
What could’ve happened to her baby?
“Daphne… what happened?” Nina wrapped her arms around her, smoothing her back, trying to calm her down.“Are you okay? Did something happen?”
The girl sobbed into her mother’s shoulder, then pulled away slowly, eyes shining with tears.
“You were right, Mom! I’m sorry!”
Nina’s entire body tensed. Something inside her twisted painfully.
“Right about what?”
Daphne let out a shaky breath, her hands trembling.
“Dad…” she whispered.“He told me to come home for break. I thought he just wanted to spend time with me. But then he said he wanted to introduce me to someone important…”
Nina’s pulse spiked.
“Someone?” she repeated carefully.
“I thought he meant Mr. Norton’s son,” Daphne rushed out.“You remember—I told you I liked him! I even asked Dad to maybe invite him somehow—” Her voice broke; she wiped her tears with a trembling hand.“But instead he…”
Nina felt her breath stutter.
Frank was capable of anything—she knew that far too well—but his own daughter?
“What did he do?” she asked, dread spreading cold through her veins.
Daphne met her eyes and the pain there made Nina want to scream.
“He introduced me to his son,” she whispered.“Mom… he’s five. He’s five years old.”
Nina froze.
A cold shock washed over her.
She knew about that boy already, Frank hadn’t hidden it well. The fact itself didn’t surprise her.
But the idea that he’d decided to introduce the children to each other?
That was a cruelty she hadn’t anticipated.
“He said he wants us to be friends,” Daphne choked out.“He said that boy is part of our family now. That I have to accept it.”
Nina inhaled slowly. She understood how hard this was for her daughter.
Daphne had always been the cherished one—the only child. She wasn’t used to sharing her father’s affection, his attention.
And it stung Nina more than she expected that what truly devastated her daughter wasn’t Frank’s cheating or lying… but the existence of another child.
As if Nina had somehow failed in raising her, failed to teach her that love wasn’t a competition.
“No, sweetheart. You don’t have to accept anything,” Nina said firmly, meeting her daughter’s eyes.
