CHAPTER 24: I’M SORRY, WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?

All aspects of life – the planet’s rotation, its’ position in reference to the sun, the wind and the flow of water and the traffic beyond the walls of Keith’s home, all of it – simply froze. The ticking of the clock on the wall in the kitchen stopped. He was certain his entire central nervous system – including his heartbeat and the flow of blood in his veins and arteries – simply ground to a halt. It was like he had pushed the ‘pause’ button on his brain.

“I’m sorry, what did you just say?”

Those seven words were all his electrically shocked brain could muster once he started breathing again.

And Darcy sighed and rubbed her eyes with her hands and felt all the energy and air and life just sort of drain out of her. The giant buildup, the running, the new destination and now the arrival and the reveal and…

… the ensuing exhaustion.

“She’s not Dominic’s daughter, Keith, she’s yours,” she repeated with a defeated sigh. “Bella is your daughter – not his.”