In that moment, my stomach dropped.
Because the truth?
Before Sam. Before the wedding. Before our son was born, I had been in a relationship during college—a brief but intense love that didn’t last beyond graduation.
When I found out I was pregnant, I had already been dating Sam. I made a choice to move forward without telling anyone. I told myself it was a fresh start. That what mattered most was that Sam loved this child like his own.
And he did. For years, he did.
Until, at some point, he discovered what I’d hidden.
His wife continued. “He got a DNA test. Quietly. Didn’t confront you. He didn’t want to destroy what you had, but it broke something inside him. He felt betrayed. Lied to.”
That’s why he couldn’t cry at the funeral.
Not because he didn’t feel the loss.
But because he didn’t feel allowed to.
