Sophie looked at her closely.
Her expression changed.
“What's wrong?”
“Nothing has happened to anyone,” Emma said quickly. “But there's something important we need to discuss.”
Sophie put down the plates.
“Is it about Grandpa?”
Emma looked surprised.
“How did you know?”
“You've been looking at his photograph all week.”
Emma swallowed.
“Come and sit with me.”
They sat beside each other at the kitchen table.
For a moment, Emma did not know where to begin.
There were so many ways to tell the story.
She could start with Helena.
She could begin with the threats.
She could explain her father's letter and hope everything else made sense afterward.
But Sophie deserved clarity.
So Emma began with the truth she knew.
“Before you were born, there were difficult things happening between our family and Lucas's family,” she said.
Sophie nodded.
She had always known that her biological father was absent.
