We were devastated. Marcus, my husband, tried to contact Jake, but he vanished without a word. Months later, Lily began speaking again, slowly. One day, Jake messaged me:
“Can we talk? I need to explain.” He told me he’d just learned he was adopted. The discovery shattered him. When Lily asked if he’d always be there, he snapped — lashing out from his own pain and projecting it onto her.

He didn’t ask for forgiveness. He knew he didn’t deserve it. We haven’t heard from him since. Lily is healing, but something in her changed. A shadow of doubt remains — a quiet fear of being left. Jake wasn’t a stranger. He was family. And sometimes, the deepest wounds come not from enemies, but from the ones we trust most.