Chapter 6 - Twelve Years Stolen by a Lie
Laurel looked painfully fragile when Graham entered her hospital room.
She stared at him as though she were seeing someone from another lifetime.
“Graham.”
He sat beside her.
There were hundreds of things he wanted to say.
Only one came out.
“Is Piper my daughter?”
Laurel nodded.
“Yes.”
Graham looked away.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I tried.”
She explained that after discovering she was pregnant, she called his old office and sent letters.
None reached him.
Then Graham’s father, Walter Ellison, contacted her.
Walter had never approved of Laurel.
She didn’t come from the family or social circle he considered suitable for his son.
According to Laurel, Walter told her Graham knew about the pregnancy and wanted nothing to do with it.
“That’s a lie,” Graham said.
“I know that now.”
“I never knew.”
Laurel began crying.
“He sounded so certain. You had moved. Your number changed. You stopped calling.”
“I tried to find you.”
“And I thought you had chosen your family over us.”
Graham stood and walked toward the window.
His father had been gone for years.
There was nobody left to confront.
No argument could return twelve birthdays.
No amount of money could buy Piper’s first steps, her first day of school, or the nights when she had needed a father who didn’t know she existed.
When Graham returned to the chair, his anger remained.
But something mattered more.
“What happens to the girls while you’re here?”
Laurel’s lips trembled.
“I don’t know.”
“They’re staying together.”
“You can’t promise that.”
Graham looked at her.
“Then I’ll do everything legally possible to make it happen.”
Laurel shook her head.
“Wren isn’t yours.”
“She’s Piper’s sister.”
“That doesn’t make her your responsibility.”
May you like
Graham remembered Piper crossing the ballroom with Wren in her arms.
“Maybe responsibility isn’t always decided by biology.”
