Chapter 54
Beth
I’m Markus and Caroline’s daughter.
It hits me repeatedly, like waves battering a shore.
Sadie doesn’t take her eyes off me. “I’m so sorry, Mum.” I want to comfort her, but I don’t know how to comfort myself.
“Everything’s going to be fine,” Jonas says again.
I close my eyes. I’m not the person I thought I was.
And on top of that, my biological mother is still alive.
But she kept our connection hidden, not just when I had parents who loved me, but after I believed myself orphaned, when I was at my most vulnerable.
I’m torn between wanting an explanation from her, and wanting never to see her again. What kind of a mother is she?
And then another question occurs to me: Am I like her? Am I like Caroline?
My eyes snap open, and I see the tears on Sadie’s cheeks.
“I should never have suggested you talk to Leonora,” Sadie says. “I’m so, so sorry.”
“No.” I straighten up, and I try to smile at her. “I was wrong, when I said I’d rather not know. Of course it’s better to know . . .”
“Really?” she says.
“Really.”
I draw her into my arms, then, my precious daughter.
I’m nothing like Caroline.