The air rushed out of my lungs. My hand gripped the edge of the table to keep from collapsing under the weight of his words.
“You… you have another child?”
Mark nodded, his face etched with shame.
“Seven years ago, before I ever met you, I was with someone else. Her name was Sarah. We broke up. I had no idea she was pregnant. She never told me. I thought that part of my life was over.”
My eyes stung, hot tears threatening to fall. “So she raised him on her own? All this time?”
Another nod. His jaw clenched.
“She married quickly, but when her husband found out Noah wasn’t his, he left. Sarah raised him alone for years. I didn’t even know he existed, Linda. Not until a few months ago.”
I pressed a trembling hand to my chest, my voice splintering. “And what changed now? Why suddenly show up in your life? Why keep it a secret from me?”
Mark’s gaze lifted to mine, and what I saw there chilled me — fear.
“Because Noah got sick,” he whispered. “He needed a blood transfusion. Sarah wasn’t a match. Neither were her parents. She came to me out of desperation. And the tests… they proved it. He’s my son.”
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