Mom pales.
Drew’s eyes go wide. “Wait. That’s Delilah’s mom.”
Calvin nods. “And before you ask, no. I don’t care what DNA says. Delilah is dead to me.”
The silence that follows is heavier than anything before it.
Drew opens her mouth, then closes it again. Mom sits back down, slower this time, as if the truth is aging her by the second. Dad leans against the wall, eyes closed, as if avoiding us could make this all disappear.
It won’t.
I inhale slowly. “So, what now?”
Calvin turns to me. And for a second, just a second, the hardness drops from his face.
“Now,” he says softly, “we learn what it means to be a family.” So positive. So unlike the mysterious Calvin I’ve grown to know.
I leap from the couch and lunge at my brother, wrapping my arms around his chest and holding tight. He hugs me back, and, surprisingly, Drew joins us. It’s bittersweet, losing a fiancé, but gaining a brother.
Meanwhile, our parents stand there, agape. Nothing will ever be the same again.
As the room settles into tense quiet, we all step back. Calvin’s words echo in my mind, but it’s not just his pain that lingers, it’s the realization that I’ve been complicit in this silence. Keeping his secret, even as Delilah twisted it into something vile, has gnawed at me for months. It’s as if my own guilt has piled atop everything else, creating an avalanche of emotion I can’t escape.
I glance at Drew, still staring at Calvin like he’s a puzzle she can’t solve. Her lips part, but no words come. I know that look. She’s trying to make sense of the impossible.
“Drew,” I say softly, drawing her attention. “I knew.”
Her head snaps toward me. “You knew?”
I nod, swallowing hard. “Calvin told me a year ago. He asked me to keep it quiet until it was safe.”
“Safe from what?” Claire demands, her voice sharp enough to cut glass.
Calvin steps forward, gaze steady. “Safe from the people who would’ve used it against me. Against all of you.”
Mom’s eyes narrow. “What kind of people?”
“The kind you don’t want to meet,” Calvin replies evenly. “I left that life behind, but it doesn’t mean it left me.” The two men behind him make that clear.
The roomfalls into stillness again, his words sinking in. Each moment stretches, thickening the air until it feels almost impossible to breathe.
Drew looks at me, her expression a mix of hurt and confusion. “And Delilah? Does she know?”
We both do. I don’t tell Drew about the day I stumbled upon Calvin’s grandparents berating him, calling him a bastard born out of wedlock who ruined his mother’s life. I don’t mention how Delilah stormed in, demanding to know why he had spoken to them. And I most certainly don’t tell her about standing in the doorway, listening as Calvin dropped the bomb that our dad was his dad, and that his entire birth had been kept secret to maintain appearances.
I hesitate, then nod. “She found out. And she used it to spread rumors about Calvin and me. She wanted to hurt us both.”
Drew’s jaw tightens. “Bitch.”
“Language,” Mom snaps automatically, but there’s no real heat behind it, especially since Drew is usually so subdued. Even Mom knows her reaction is warranted.
The words tumble out of me before I can stop them. “That’s why I can’t keep doing this. Keeping secrets. Letting people like Delilah control the narrative. It’s not just about us anymore. There are so many women out there who’ve been silenced, judged, left to fend for themselves. I want to help them. I need to help them.”
Calvin’s gaze softens, and for the first time, I see a flicker of pride in his eyes. “Then do it,” he says simply. “Don’t let anyone stop you.”
I nod, resolve settling over me like a cloak I’ve been waiting to wear.
Chapter 13
