CHAPTER 1: THE PHOTOGRAPH FROM TEN YEARS AGO
CHAPTER 1: THE PHOTOGRAPH FROM TEN YEARS AGO
My hands froze above the keyboard.
For several seconds, I couldn't breathe.
The photograph showed a much younger Michael standing in front of a lakeside cabin.
Beside him stood a teenage girl.
Blonde hair.
Bright smile.
The same eyes.
The same face.
Brittany Adams.
Ten years younger.
Ten years before I entered Michael's life.
I immediately called Margaret.
She answered on the first ring.
"Thank God."
"You knew?" I asked.
"Not everything."
"Then start talking."
A long silence followed.
Then Margaret sighed.
"Cancel the email first."
"No."
"Claire—"
"No."
The firmness in my voice surprised even me.
For years people assumed I was gentle because I was polite.
They often confused those two things.
"I'm listening," I said.
Margaret lowered her voice.
"Michael has known Brittany almost his entire life."
The room spun.
"What?"
"Her mother worked for our family."
I stared at the photograph.
Suddenly details emerged.
The resemblance.
The familiarity.
The confidence Brittany displayed while sleeping in my bed.
She had never acted like someone chasing a powerful CEO.
She acted like someone who already belonged.
"What aren't you telling me?"
Margaret didn't answer immediately.
That was answer enough.
My pulse accelerated.
Then she whispered six words that changed everything.
"Michael thinks Brittany is his daughter."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
I slowly sat down.
"No."
"Yes."
"That's impossible."
"We believed so too."
My mother-in-law sounded exhausted.
"The timing never made sense."
"What timing?"
Margaret exhaled shakily.
"Twenty-six years ago Michael's father had an affair."
The words landed heavily.
"After the woman died, rumors began."
"Rumors that Brittany was family."
I looked again at the photograph.
This wasn't a mistress.
This wasn't some random employee.
This was something far more complicated.
Far more dangerous.
And if Margaret was telling the truth...
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The email waiting in my outbox wouldn't destroy one scandal.
It would expose an entire family secret.
