“You looked terrified.”
“I was afraid you would find out.”
The room seemed to tilt beneath me.
“Find out what?”
She looked at Owen, but he did not speak. He only stared at the floor.
Marjorie wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand.
“His mother was my daughter.”
I could not breathe for a second.
“You told me you never had children.”
“I told everyone that.”
Owen walked to the window and pulled the curtain aside. Sunlight entered the room in a thin line.
Marjorie continued, her voice breaking.
“I was 17 when I gave birth to her. My parents sent me away. They told people I was visiting relatives. When the baby came, they arranged an adoption before I even held her properly.”
I sat beside her again.
Marjorie pressed her lips together, struggling to continue.
“Her name was Ruth. I found her years later, but she wanted nothing to do with me. I don’t blame her. She had spent her whole life believing I had abandoned her.”
