Ethan ran his hand through his hair, visibly shaken. “It was before I met you… over twenty years ago. I didn’t even know she existed.”
Sophia nodded, her eyes glossy with tears. “My mom never told him.”
I looked at them both, trying to make sense of it.
Then the realization hit me.
“Ryan…” I said faintly.
Sophia closed her eyes.
“Ryan and I…”
“are siblings.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and irreversible.
I stepped back.
Then again.
“No… no…” I murmured.
Everything I thought was solid—everything I trusted—collapsed in that moment.
“How long have you known?” I asked, my voice turning cold.
Ethan hesitated.
“Two weeks.”
That hurt more than anything.
“Two weeks?” I repeated. “And you said nothing to me?”
“We were trying to figure out how to tell you—”
“No,” I snapped. “You were deciding everything without me.”
Sophia took a cautious step forward. “We didn’t want to hurt you.”
I looked at her, my chest tight.
“It’s too late for that.”
Silence returned.
“Does Ryan know?” I asked.
Sophia shook her head.
“Not yet.”
I closed my eyes, taking a slow, unsteady breath.
And in that moment, I understood something I couldn’t undo.
I hadn’t just uncovered a secret.
I had discovered that my family—everything I thought it was—had changed completely.
And the hardest part… was still ahead.
Because someone had to tell Ryan the truth.
