“Some.”
I swallowed.
“I need to see them.”
Marianne let out a slow breath.
“You don’t get to walk back into our lives because you finally discovered what you chose not to look for.”
“I know.”
“No, Adrian. You don’t.”
Her voice remained quiet, but every word carried thirteen years of pain.
“You don’t know what it was like to raise two babies alone while wondering whether I could afford the next month’s rent. You don’t know what it was like to work two jobs, finish my degree at night, and study beside two cribs because I couldn’t afford childcare.”
I looked down.
“You don’t know what it was like when Chloe got sick and I had to choose between missing work and risking our electricity being shut off. You don’t know how many nights Sophie asked why other children had fathers who came to school events while hers never showed up.”
