‘Mum,’ I said, ‘is it true?’
After what felt like an eternity, she finally whispered, ‘Yes.’
I could barely breathe. ‘Why didn’t you ever tell me? How could you hide something like this from us?’
Tears welled up in her eyes. ‘I… I didn’t want it to turn out this way. I was trying to protect you both.’
‘Protect us?’ Everly’s voice rose. ‘From what? From each other?’
My mother looked at us, and I could see the regret on her face. ‘I was in love with someone else when I had you, Everly,’ she said quietly. “He was my boss. It was an affair. I didn’t plan it, but when I got pregnant, everything changed. I couldn’t stay. His wife didn’t know about you, and I had to leave before things got worse.”
Everly’s jaw dropped. ‘So you abandoned me? You just disappeared?’
‘No,’ my mother said, her voice breaking. “I never left you completely. His mother helped raise you. I visited you, but I couldn’t stay long. I had to go back to my life, to my family. It was difficult. I thought I was doing the right thing.”
‘Right?’ I couldn’t help myself. ‘You had two daughters, and you decided to hide one of us from the other.’
‘I thought it was the only way,’ she cried. ‘I was terrified. I didn’t know how to deal with it. And when I realised what I had done, it was too late. You were both growing up in different worlds. I didn’t know how to bring you together without destroying everything.’
We sat there, absorbing the weight of her words. I felt anger, sadness and confusion all at once. How could she have done this? How could she have kept us apart for so long?
Everly wiped a tear from her cheek. ‘You took so much time away from us,’ she said quietly. ‘We could have gotten to know each other. We could have been sisters.’
My mother looked at us, her face etched with guilt. ‘I know,’ she whispered. ‘And I’m so, so sorry. I can’t take back what I did. But I beg you… please give me a chance to make it right.’
After the confrontation, Everly and I sat in silence. Our mother left, promising she would try to make things right, but we both knew that no apology could erase the lost years. The truth had changed everything.
‘I still can’t believe it,’ Everly said, her voice barely above a whisper. ‘I have a sister.’
I nodded, feeling the same mixture of emotions. ‘It’s hard to take in.’
‘But,’ she said, looking at me with a small smile, ‘maybe we can start over. You know… as sisters.’
I smiled back, though my heart still felt heavy. ‘Yes. I think we can try.’
We didn’t know what the future held, but one thing we knew for sure — now we had each other. And that was a start.
