“Not yet,” Mom said. “You’re the first.”
I took a breath that felt like it scraped my ribs. “Call her,” I said. “Ask her to come back tonight. I want to talk to her.”
Mom blinked. “Are you sure?”
“No,” I said. “But do it anyway.”
Alyssa came back in jeans and a sweater, hair down. Without the scrubs, she looked younger. More vulnerable. She sat on the edge of the armchair across from me, hands folded so tightly her knuckles were white.
“I’m sorry,” she said immediately. “For taking your hair. For not telling you sooner. For… all of it.”
“Is it true?” I asked. “Are you sure?”
A woman sitting in an armchair | Source: Midjourney
She nodded. “I did two tests,” she said. “Different companies. Both came back as half-siblings. I can show you.”
“I’ll do one myself,” I said. “With my consent this time. If it matches, then… we talk about what happens next.”
She swallowed. “That’s fair,” she said. “It’s more than I expected.”
