Zander interrupts Kristy before she can get hysterical. “Let’s all calm down, and I’ll tell you why we’re here.”
Everybody sits, but Sophia’s soft words immediately jolt us all from our seats. “Ashcroft is my husband. We—”
“Husband?” Kristy shrieks in a shaky voice.
Sophia nods, avoiding eye contact with anyone. I notice that her hand is still in Beast’s tight clasp. “We were married, yes. And when you were born, we named you Chloe. But when I…left, I changed it.”
Kristy pulls away from Oscar’s arms and stands before Sophia. “H-how is this possible? There’s no mention of any Chloe on my birth certificate, and my father’s name column is blank.” Her tone is accusing as her gaze bores into her mother’s face.
My stomach roils at the events playing before me. As much as I’m hurt to see Kristy’s childhood secrets crashing before her, I dread something worse is yet to come.
“I asked someone to make new documents for us.” Sophia hesitates, not meeting Kristy’s eyes.
“You forged my birth certificate.”
All the color drains from Kristy’s face. My own body shivers, imagining what she might be going through at this moment.
“I had to. To keep you safe.” Sophia’s hand trembles as she tries to place it on Kristy’s shoulder. Remorse like I’ve never seen before dawns on her face.
“From whom? From him?” Kristy points toward Ashcroft, who is just as stunned as anyone else in the room.
“No, from o-other people…who did this to me.” Sophia opens her purse and places some photographs on the table. Her teary gaze meets mine before she straightens up.
I glance at the table. The photographs she slid my way look old and gray. From where I’m perched, I don’t have a clear view of them, and when I try to get up, Zander holds me in place. I look at him over my shoulder, but he just shakes his head. Confused, I follow his instruction and stay rooted close to him.
But Kristy is already sifting through the pictures, staring at them in horror.
“What the fuck, Mom? What the hell is this?”
Sophia’s shoulders slump, and she takes a small step toward her daughter. “When you were two years old, I was kidnapped. The person who took me marred my back with a hot double hook, burning my flesh.” After she finishes her sentence in one breath, her gaze lands on me. But I look away from her affectionate gaze and try to unclench my hardening stomach.
My own wounds itch and burn, making me nauseous. Sophia continues the story about her abduction, being back home, getting pregnant and her premature stillborn baby, and finally, leaving Ash.
At some point in between, Kristy flops onto the couch, her sobs filling the room. Tears race down Sophia’s cheeks too. But I am just stuck in one place. My heart pounds fast against my rib cage. I can already feel that there’s something more awful waiting to come out.
“Then I met you, Rose. You had my eyes, my looks. My heart called for you, and I couldn’t believe that of all the people, you bonded with us, me and Kristy. After about a year, I couldn’t rest and had to confirm if my suspicion was right.” Her hand crawls up to her chest and neck, and she rubs her skin as if trying to calm the internal tornado of emotions.
“What suspicion?” Kristy rubs her forehead before looking between Sophia and me with wide eyes.
“I called the hospital in St. Peppers, where I delivered my second baby girl.”
“Premature and stillborn?” I whisper, my numb fingers digging into the couch.
I know. I know.
“They had no record of a stillborn child on that date.”
“What are you saying, Soph?” Ashcroft asks, his brows furrowed as he demands answers to his lifelong questions.
“We never saw the baby, Ash. We…we were so heartbroken, we didn’t ask for our baby.” She hides her face in her palms, and I can feel her every sob and every tear, which are in sync with my own sluggishly beating heart. “I had a maternity DNA test done for me and Rose.” She looks at me with a contrite and hopeful expression.
But I close my eyes, shutting myself off from all this information. I don’t need a family now. I don’t want a family now. I’m making a new life with Zander. I want no reminders of my past, my lost identity, and my forgotten parents.
“No! Mom!”
I open my eyes again, hearing Kristy’s cry as she turns around and hides her face in Oscar’s arms.
“I did what I had to do to protect you both.”