Chapter 2: The Message From a Stranger
**PART 2**
The reception carried on, but the air had changed.
Lily sat in my husband's lap, quietly eating her cupcake.
She didn't ask about Diane.
She didn't even look toward the doors.
That was the part that hurt most — she wasn't surprised.
My husband noticed it too.
"How long has she been talking to Lily like that?" he asked.
I didn't answer right away.
Because the truth was, I wasn't sure how long it had been going on without me knowing.
Then his aunt crossed the room and leaned down close.
"You need to know something," she said quietly.
"Diane told half this room that Lily isn't really part of the family.
She's been saying it for months."
My husband went completely still.
"She told people that at my sister's wedding?"
"She told people that before tonight.
Tonight was just the first time she did it in front of you."
I looked at Lily.
She was licking frosting off her finger, completely unaware of what was being said two feet away.
That was the moment I understood this wasn't a bad night.
This had been building for a long time.
And then my phone buzzed.
A message from a number I didn't recognize.
*"There's something about Diane you don't know yet.
Meet me outside."*
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What Diane had been hiding came out that night — and it changed everything.
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