Part 2: Before my husband passed away, he asked me to deliver a sealed letter to a woman I'd never met — after she read the first line, she looked at me and asked, "Did he tell you everything?"

His face looked gray.

In front of him sat a cup of coffee he hadn't touched.

I placed the DNA report before him.

"Is Emily Rebecca's daughter?"

Zane closed his eyes.

"Yes."

The answer struck like a physical blow.

I gripped the chair.

"How long have you known?"

He stared at the table.

"I suspected for years."

My breath caught.

"And you never told me?"

"I couldn't."

I almost laughed.

"Couldn't?"

Tears rolled down his cheeks.

"Mara, I was afraid."

"Of what?"

He looked up.

"Of losing both of you."

I stepped backward.

"Both of us?"

He nodded.

"You and Emily."

My hands shook.

"Then tell me what happened when she was born."

Zane covered his face.

For a long time, he said nothing.

Then he whispered, "You had complications during the delivery."

"I remember."

"The doctors took you into surgery."

I nodded.

"When I saw you afterward, you were unconscious."