When Bruce returned, I replaced the phone exactly as I had found it.
“Coming to bed?” he asked.
“In a minute.”
He kissed my head and fell asleep almost immediately.
I remained awake, staring at the ceiling while tears slipped into my hair.
The next morning, I pretended to feel sick and encouraged Bruce to take Lily to the resort’s children’s club.
The moment they left, I dressed and followed him.
After dropping Lily off, Bruce walked alone toward a small café near the beach. Through the window, I saw the woman Lily had described. She wore a linen dress, her dark hair pulled back, and a folder rested on the table before her.
Jim was already sitting beside her.
Then Bruce entered and kissed her cheek.
Something inside me broke.
I pushed open the café door so violently that the bell above it struck the glass.
“So this is where you’ve been.”
Bruce jumped to his feet.
“Claire, wait.”
“Wait for what? For you to finish lying?”
I turned toward the woman.
“How long have you been sleeping with my husband?”
Her face went pale.
“I’m not sleeping with anyone’s husband.”
Jim stood too.
“Claire, please sit down.”
“Don’t defend him! You’ve been covering for him this entire trip. My own brother.”
Jim’s eyes filled with tears.
“I swear this is not what you think.”
Bruce reached for me, but I pulled away.
“Then tell me what it is.”
The woman slowly pushed the folder toward me.
“My name is Elena,” she said. “You need to open this.”
I wanted to walk away.
Instead, I opened it.
Inside were hospital documents, a birth certificate bearing my mother’s name, DNA results, and an old photograph of my mother holding a newborn baby wrapped in pink.
The child was not me.
