When I caught my husband with my best friend, I silently left for another town, keeping my pregnancy a secret. But five years later, we crossed paths again.
“Are you absolutely sure theres no mistake?” Emily clutched her phone tightly, forcing her voice to stay steady.
“Emily Jane, the results are positive. Congratulationsyoure about six weeks along.”
She thanked the doctor and ended the call. The world around her seemed to freeze. Six weeks. Exactly the time since that evening when shed come home early and spotted an unfamiliar handbag in the hallwaythe same one shed given to Lily for her birthday.
Emily sank into the chair by the window. Snow fell outside, blanketing the city in white, erasing every trace. How she wished she could wipe her memory just as easily.
Her phone rang again. James. The third time in an hour.
“Emily, where are you? We were supposed to meet after work.”
“Sorry, I got held up,” she said, keeping her tone light. “Dont wait for meIve got a lot to sort out.”
“Is everything alright? You sound off.”
“Everythings fine. Just tired.”
Hanging up, Emily glanced at the suitcase shed packed that morning. Five years of marriage. Five years ending right now. And a new life growing inside her.
Five years later
“Mummy, look how pretty!” Four-year-old Sophie pressed her nose against the toy shop window, eyeing a doll in an elegant gown.
“Very pretty,” Emily smiled, adjusting her daughters hat. “But we need to gowere running late.”
“Where are we going?” Sophie reluctantly pulled away and slipped her hand into her mothers.
“To visit Aunt Margaret. Shes expecting us.”
Manchester greeted them with a frosty January morning. Five years since Emily had been back to her hometown, five years building a new life far from the past. Now, she had to returnher aunt, the only family whod stood by her, had been hospitalized.
“Sophie, be carefuldont run,” Emily tightened her grip as they stepped into the spacious lobby of a newly opened business centre. They needed to cut through to reach the bus stop on the other side.
The marble floor gleamed under the chandeliers. Soft music played, and a crowd had gatheredlikely for the grand opening.
“Emily?”
She froze at the voice behind herone she hadnt heard in five years but would recognize anywhere. Slowly, she turned.
“James.”
He looked almost the same. The same steady grey eyes, the same hint of silver at his temples. Only the lines around his eyes had deepened.
“Didnt expect to see you here,” he said, staring as if she were a ghost. “You came back?”
“Just passing through,” Emily felt Sophie press against her leg. “Not for long.”
Jamess gaze dropped to the little girl, and his expression shifted. His pupils widened. Sophie was his mirror imagethe same grey eyes, the same curve of her lips, even the dimple in her cheek when she smiled.
“And this is?”
“My daughter,” Emily said quickly. “Sophie.”
A heavy silence settled between them.
“There you are!” A tall, graceful woman with chestnut hair approached. “Everyones looking for you. Ohhello,” she glanced curiously at Emily.
“Veronica, this is Emilyan old friend,” James said slowly, still staring at Sophie. “Emily, this is Veronica, my wife.”
“Lovely to meet you,” Emily forced a smile. “We should be going.”
“Wait,” James stepped forward. “How can I reach you?”
“You cant,” she turned and walked away, leading Sophie by the hand.
In the taxi, Sophie nestled close.
“Mummy, who was that?”
“Just someone I used to know, sweetheart. A long time ago.”
Aunt Margarets flat was just as cosy as it had been five years earlier, when Emily arrived from London with a small suitcase and a broken heart.
“You havent changed a bit,” Aunt Margaret smiled, smoothing Sophies hair. “But this little lady has grown so muchonly in pictures, though. How are you, Emily love?”
“Im fine,” she helped her aunt into a chair. “Dont worry, the doctor said its nothing seriousjust rest and medication.”
“I wasnt asking about me,” her aunt studied her. “How are you really? Is your heart at peace?”
Emily looked away.
“Aunt Maggie, thats all in the past.”
“Youve seen him, havent you?”
“Already did. At the new business centre. Of all the places in a city of half a million, I had to bump into him on the first day.”
“Fate,” her aunt sighed. “He looked for you, you know.”
“What?” Emily turned sharply.
“Came by a month after you left. Then again later. I told him I didnt know where you were.”
“Thank you,” Emily squeezed her aunts hand. “That was the right thing.”
“His mother even called last year. Helen always treated you like a daughter.”
Emily exhaled. Her mother-in-law had been kind. Had she known what happened between James and Lily?
“Sophie looks just like him,” Aunt Margaret said softly, watching the girl playing in the corner. “Did he guess?”
“I think so. But it changes nothing.”
The morning brought a call from an unknown number.
“Emily? Its Helen.”
Her former mother-in-laws voice made her chest tighten.
“Good morning,” she stepped onto the balcony so as not to wake Sophie.
“James said he saw you yesterday. I could I come by? I need to talk.”
An hour later, they sat at the kitchen table. Sophie still slept.
“Is she really Jamess?” Helen asked outright.
Emily nodded.
“Why didnt you tell him?” Helens voice held no accusation, only pain. “You kept him from his daughter. Kept me from my granddaughter.”
“He kept himself from her,” Emily said quietly. “When he brought my best friend into our home.”
Helen lowered her eyes.
“I know. He told me everything when you vanished. He wasnt himself. But Emily it was one mistake.”
“One that changed everything.”
“He only married two years ago. Spent all that time searching for you, hoping youd come back. Then he met Veronica. Shes a good woman, but they cant have children.”
Emily swallowed hard.
“Im sorry, but thats not my problem.”
“What about Sophie? Doesnt she need a father?”
Just then, a sleepy little girl appeared in the doorway.
“Mummy, Im awake.”
Helen froze, staring at her granddaughter with wide eyes.
“How long are you staying?” Paul asked, helping Emily with catalog printouts.
Theyd met at the publishing house where she worked in Manchester. When they realised they both needed to be in her hometown, theyd agreed to travel together.
“A week, maybe two,” she replied, sorting papers. “Once Aunt Margarets better, well head back.”
“Shame,” he smiled. “I thought you seemed happy here.”
“I was. But thats in the past.”
Her phone rang. Another unknown number.
“Emily, its James. Dont hang up, please.”
She stilled, closing her eyes.
“How did you get this number?”
“Your aunt gave it to me. Sorry to bother you, but we need to talk. Its important.”
“We have nothing to say.”
“Is Sophie my daughter?”
Emily clenched the phone until her knuckles whitened.
“I need to know the truth,” he pressed. “I have a right to know.”
“And I had a right to loyalty. To trust. To respect,” her voice trembled. “But no one cared about that, did they?”
Silence stretched on the other end.
“I was wrong,” he finally said. “And Id give anything to change it. But I cant. What I can do is try to change the future. Our daughter needs a father.”
“Weve been fine without you for five years.”
“Please. One meeting. Just you and me. Like adults.”
The café was quiet, nearly empty. Emily chose a corner table, nervously twisting a cold teacup in her hands.
“Thank you for coming,” James sat across from her.
“I dont have long,” she checked her watch. “Sophies with Aunt Margaret.”
“Ill be direct,” he folded his hands on the table. “I want to be part of her life.”
“Why? You have a wife, a life.”
“Veronica cant have children,” he met her gaze. “But thats not the point. Sophies my daughter. I have a right to be there for her.”
“And I had a right to know what happened in my own home,” Emily took a steadying breath. “When was the last time you saw Lily?”
“Five years ago. That night.”
“Really? I thought what you had was
