Chapter 16 - The SecretFor several seconds, nobody moved.
I looked at Mom.
Her face collapsed.
"Rachel..."
"What did he mean?"
She started crying.
"Don't listen to him."
"Who is my father?"
Dad closed his eyes.
That was enough.
I turned toward him.
"Dad."
He couldn't speak.
"Look at me."
He did.
There was shame in his eyes.
Not fear.
Shame.
"Who is my father?"
He whispered:
"You are my daughter."
"That's not what I asked."
Mom covered her face.
Dad's voice broke.
"Biologically..."
I waited.
He couldn't finish.
Mom finally spoke.
"There was someone else."
The world seemed to stop.
"Who?"
"His name was Michael Kane."
My stomach dropped.
Kane.
Uncle Mark.
"You mean..."
Dad nodded.
"Yes."
I stepped backward.
"Mark is my biological father."
Mom cried.
"No one was supposed to know."
I laughed in disbelief.
"This is insane."
Dad stood.
"I raised you."
"I know."
"I loved you."
"I know."
"Rachel..."
"But all these years..."
I couldn't breathe.
Mom had lied.
Dad had lied.
Eric knew.
Maybe everyone knew.
Daniel entered the room.
"Rachel."
I couldn't look at him.
"Did Eric know?"
Dad nodded.
"When?"
"Years ago."
My head spun.
"Then every time he called me selfish..."
Dad said nothing.
"Every time he said I wasn't really part of the family..."
Nothing.
"Did he know that Mark was my father?"
"Yes."
I looked at Mom.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because Mark was dangerous."
"And Dad?"
"He loved you."
I turned away.
My family had been built on lies.
But something bothered me.
If Mark was my biological father, why had he spent decades trying to control me?
Sophia walked in holding another file.
"We found something."
I looked at her.
"What?"
She opened the file.
"A DNA test."
My blood ran cold.
"Whose?"
"Eric's."
I stared at her.
"Why would Eric take a DNA test?"
She looked at Dad.
"We found it in his apartment."
I read the report.
The result was almost certain.
Eric was not my biological brother.
I looked at Dad.
"What does that mean?"
He didn't answer.
Sophia spoke quietly.
"It means there is another secret."
Mom's face went white.
I looked between them.
"Eric isn't my brother."
Mom began crying.
Then she whispered:
"Your mother and Eric's father were never the same man."
I felt dizzy.
"Wait."
Sophia looked at the DNA report again.
"The test shows Eric's biological father is..."
She stopped.
I stared at her.
"Who?"
She slowly turned the page.
The name was printed in black.
Michael Kane.
I stopped breathing.
Eric and I weren't siblings.
We were both Mark's children.
May you like
Half-siblings.
And suddenly, the entire family history became much darker than I had imagined.
