Chapter 1

Martin missed my biopsy to walk the daughter he'd hidden from me for twenty-four years down the aisle.

The low hum of imaging equipment carried through the wall of the breast imaging center. I sat on the edge of the exam table, holding the thin paper gown closed over my chest.

Martin was supposed to be in the chair beside me. He'd promised to stay through the procedure, then drive us to Ava's reception.

Instead, I picked up my phone and reread the text he'd sent an hour earlier. "The firm's servers are down. I have to handle it. I'm sorry, Claire."

A notification appeared at the top of my screen. Ava's wedding livestream had started.

I tapped it as the church doors swung open. Martin stepped into the aisle wearing his charcoal suit, smiling as Ava placed her hand on his arm.

She looked radiant in white silk. When the camera moved closer, my hand tightened around the phone.

Ava was wearing my mother's veil.

Near her left temple, a small cluster of seed pearls sat slightly uneven. My mother had repaired that spot by hand before she died, and I knew every stitch.

Martin had taken the veil from the cedar box in my closet. He walked Ava to the altar and placed her hand in the groom's.

The officiant waited for the applause to fade. "Ava has asked us to recognize the man who escorted her down the aisle today. After twenty-four years, she's proud to introduce Martin as her biological father."

Someone knocked on the exam room door.

"Claire?" A nurse stepped inside with a clipboard. "Dr. Evans is ready for you."

I locked my phone and slipped it into my purse. Then I lay back on the table while Dr. Evans prepared the local anesthetic.

The injection stung before the area went numb. I felt steady pressure, then heard the biopsy needle click.

With every click, the words biological father ran through my mind.

When the procedure was over, Dr. Evans covered the biopsy site with a sterile dressing. She said the results would take three or four days.

Once I was alone, I opened the livestream again. The ceremony had ended, but the recording was still available.

I saved the video to my phone and took screenshots of Martin, Ava, and my mother's veil. Then I buttoned my blouse carefully over the dressing.

The country club was fifteen minutes from the imaging center. By the time I arrived, the reception was underway.

I stopped in the hallway outside the ballroom. Through the glass doors, I saw Martin and Ava in the middle of their father-daughter dance.

He guided her across the floor with one hand at her back. When she laughed, he brushed a loose strand of hair from her cheek.

That morning, he'd claimed he couldn't spare two hours to sit beside me.

Ava's mother, Elise, sat at the family table, wiping tears from her eyes. Around her, guests applauded the touching story of a father acknowledging his daughter after twenty-four years.

I crossed the lobby toward the front entrance.

Before I stepped outside, I glanced back. Beyond the ballroom doors, Elise had turned in her chair and was staring straight at me.

My phone buzzed before I reached the parking lot. A message from Elise appeared on the screen.

Thank you for not ruining her wedding.