Chapter 2
PART 2
“Mom… is that man my dad?”
Chloe felt her strength drain instantly.
For ten years, she had imagined this moment in fragments—while washing dishes, counting change for diapers, standing at bus stops, and crying quietly when no one was watching.
But nothing had prepared her for hearing it spoken aloud, here, in front of her parents.
Thomas couldn’t look away from the photograph.
Beatrice wiped at her tears in silence.
“Yes, sweetheart,” Chloe said at last, lowering herself in front of Leo. “His name was Ethan Vance. And yes… he is your father.”
Leo hesitated. “Did he know about me?”
Chloe shut her eyes for a brief moment.
“No,” she said softly. “He was gone before I ever got the chance to tell him.”
Thomas gripped the back of a chair.
“Ethan Vance…”
His voice sounded like he was saying the name of a dead man.
“You knew him,” Chloe said.
“He was an intern at the plant,” Thomas murmured. “Brilliant kid. Stubborn as hell.”
May you like
Beatrice looked at her husband.
“Why did you never talk about him?”
