Thirteen years ago, after my husband’s tragic car accident revealed his hidden life, I took in his secret twin daughters.
I devoted everything to them, but at the age of sixteen, they shut me out of my home.
A week later, I learned the shocking reason behind their actions.
The morning Andrew died started like any other.
Sunlight filtered through my window, casting a warm, golden glow that made even my worn countertops seem almost enchanting.
That turned out to be the last moment of normalcy I’d experience for a long time.
When the phone rang, I hesitated to answer. Who calls at 7:30 AM? But something—perhaps my instincts—prompted me to pick it up.
“Is this Ruth?” A man’s voice came through, sounding formal and uncertain.
“Yes, it is,” I said, taking another sip of coffee while watching the steam swirl around.
“Ma’am, I’m Officer Matthews from the Police Department.
I regret to inform you that your husband was involved in an accident this morning. He didn’t make it.”
My coffee mug slipped from my grasp and shattered on the floor, splattering coffee across my bare feet, but I was numb to it. “What?
No! Not Andrew!”
“Ma’am…” The officer’s tone softened. “There’s more you should know.
There was another woman in the car who also died…and two daughters who survived. Our records confirm that they are your husband’s children.”
I sank down against the kitchen cabinet until I was sitting on the floor, oblivious to the coffee soaking into my robe.
My world spun as ten years of marriage crumbled around me like the shattered mug. “Children?”
“Twin girls, ma’am.
They’re three years old.”
Three years old. Three years filled with deception, of bogus business trips and late-night meetings. Three years in which another family lived in the shadows of my life, while I struggled with infertility and the grief of two miscarriages.
“Ma’am?
Are you there?”
“Yes,” I whispered, though I felt far removed from reality. “What happens to them now?”
“Their mother had no living relatives. They are currently in emergency foster care until—”
…The story doesn’t end here, it continues on the next page 👇
