Greg ran a hand through his hair, equal parts angry and stunned. “She found out the truth last month and demanded answers. Callie panicked. That’s when she sent the photo.”
I sank into a chair. “So she knew all this time and never told you?”
“She said she thought she was protecting everyone,” he replied. “But Audrey isn’t just a secret on paper. She’s real. And she looked at me like she’d been waiting her whole life.”
Callie wanted Audrey to meet him—but she didn’t want her husband to find out. She was scared. Audrey was angry too, but she wanted answers, and she wanted them from Greg.
My chest tightened. “Is she yours?”
“I took a DNA test that same day,” he said. “Mailed it right after I left the café. Audrey took one too. We’ll get the results soon, but honestly… I don’t need them. I saw it in her face.”
I rubbed my temples. “Do you still have feelings for Callie?”
He looked at me with clear certainty. “No. Not at all. After what she did—hiding something like this? She didn’t just damage my past. She hurt Audrey’s life too.”
He reached for my hand.
“I don’t know what comes next,” he said quietly. “But if she’s my daughter, I want to be there for her. She deserves that.”
I stared at the Christmas tree, its twinkling lights suddenly belonging to a different version of our life. My world had shifted—but how could I turn my back on a girl who had only just discovered the truth?
I nodded. It was the only answer I had.
In the weeks that followed, the truth arrived fast and heavy. The DNA results came back—there was no doubt. Audrey was Greg’s daughter.
His voice broke when he read them, a mix of relief and heartbreak.
The man who had raised Audrey spiraled after learning the truth. That same week, he filed for divorce. The revelation didn’t just crack their marriage—it shattered it.
Then Callie did something none of us expected. Greg received a letter from her lawyer, demanding years of back child support.
She wanted compensation for every birthday missed, every tuition payment, every medical bill—even though she was the one who had hidden Audrey from him.
Greg was furious. “She’s punishing me for her choices,” he said. “And Audrey will suffer if this turns into a war.”
He didn’t fight publicly. He let the lawyers handle it—but he stayed focused on Audrey.