«Lucas is not Tyler’s son,» she announced, her eyes finding mine across the yard. «He is Adam’s.»
The world seemed to stop. I heard gasps around me, felt my father stiffen beside me, but it was all background noise to the rushing in my ears.
«Bridget’s husband and I had a brief affair two years ago,» Cassandra continued, her voice steady and rehearsed. «It was a mistake, a moment of weakness for both of us. We never meant to hurt anyone, but these things happen.»
I stood frozen, unable to process what I was hearing. My sister was claiming she had slept with my husband. That her son, the nephew I had lovingly cared for, was actually Adam’s child. It was so absurd that I almost laughed out loud.
Cassandra was not finished. She reached into her purse and pulled out a folded document. «Adam knew the truth about Lucas. Before he died, he updated his will.» She held up the paper. «He wanted his son to be provided for. This will states that half of the house Adam and Bridget owned should go to Lucas as his biological child.»
Every eye in the yard turned to me. I could see the pity, the morbid curiosity, the discomfort. My parents looked stricken, and my father was half-standing as if unsure whether to intervene.
And then, to everyone’s surprise, including my own, I felt a smile tugging at my lips. Not a happy smile, but the kind that comes when something is so outrageously false that it becomes almost comical. I pressed my lips together, trying to contain the inappropriate laughter bubbling up inside me.
«Oh, I see,» I said finally, my voice calm and even. I took a sip of water to buy time, to push down the urge to laugh in my sister’s face. «May I see this will, Cassandra?»
