Chapter 2: The Brother She Never Knew
His name was Daniel.
Dorothy told me everything while Nancy sat between us on the couch, still holding Daniel's hand like she was afraid he might disappear.
"He's my brother," Dorothy said.
"My half-brother.
I only found out about him eight months ago."
I stared at her.
"Eight months."
"I didn't know how to tell you.
I didn't know how to tell anyone."
Daniel hadn't said a word.
He just sat there with his hands clasped, eyes on the floor.
Then Nancy looked up at me and said, "Daddy, he's been really sick.
That's why we had to see him tonight.
Mom was scared it might be the last chance."
The room went quiet.
I looked at Dorothy.
She nodded slowly, her eyes filling again.
"He has maybe three months," she whispered.
"He reached out to me because he has no one else.
He just wanted to meet his sister.
And Nancy reminded him of someone he lost a long time ago."
Daniel finally looked up.
"I'm not trying to cause trouble for your family," he said.
"I just needed her to know I existed before I was gone."
I didn't know what to say.
But then Dorothy pulled out a folded envelope from her bag and placed it on the table between us.
"There's something else," she said quietly.
"Something I found inside the letter he sent me.
Something that changes everything about the family you and I both thought we knew."
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What was inside that envelope — and what secret had been buried for decades?
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