When she finally looked up, her smile flashed for a moment, as if she wasn’t sure she had the right to smile.
I knelt down beside her, brushing a strand of hair from her cheek.
‘Hello, sunshine. Mummy came early, just like you asked.’
She nodded and held out her pencil, but her gaze immediately shifted to the door. It wasn’t exactly fear — more like hesitation.
‘What happened earlier?’ I asked cautiously.
‘A lady came to see Daddy,’ she replied, tugging at a thread on her sock.
‘Okay… what lady? Do we know her?’
‘No,’ said Grace. ‘I don’t think so. She had shiny hair and a big pink bag. Dad gave her an envelope. And then he hugged her.’
‘Was it… just a hug? A friendly one?’ I asked, swallowing the lump in my throat.
‘It was… weird,’ Grace shook her head. ‘She looked at me and said I looked like Dad. She asked if I wanted a little brother. But she smiled like she was doing it on purpose, not like kind people do.’
I tried to read between the lines, to understand what my five-year-old daughter was trying to tell me. No matter how I looked at it, it all boiled down to Leo seeing another woman.
‘And then what?’ I asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.
‘I didn’t like it, so I called you,’ she said. ‘But Daddy saw me with the phone in my hand. I said I was just playing, held the phone up to Berry and hung up. He told me not to say anything to you.’
Berry is her favourite teddy bear. For someone so young, I was amazed by her instinct.
Tears stung my eyes, but I held them back. I didn’t want her to carry the burden of my fears as well.
‘You did exactly the right thing, my angel,’ I whispered, pulling her close. ‘I’m so, so proud of you.’
She nodded again, but her lip was trembling and she was avoiding my gaze.
‘How about we have a snack?’ I suggested gently, trying to distract her. ‘We have a new jar of Nutella just waiting to be opened.’
Grace shrugged, her little shoulders rising and falling as if she didn’t care.
‘Dad made chicken and mayonnaise for lunch,’ she said. ‘But… Mum, did I do something wrong? Was it wrong to call you?’
That question hit me right in the heart.
‘No,’ I replied immediately. ‘No, darling. You didn’t do anything wrong!’
I felt my throat tighten. I didn’t want to lie to her, but I didn’t want to scare her either.
‘No, my dear,’ I said cautiously. ‘It’s just… it’s an adult thing. Something he should never have burdened you with. You’re not to blame for anything. I promise.’
She nodded, but I could still see the doubt in her eyes. I pulled her close again, and she relaxed in my arms, clutching my T-shirt as if clinging to something important.
We stayed like that for a while, just breathing. I could feel her heartbeat against my chest.
When she finally let go of me, I stood up. My legs felt like glass.
I left her room, walked down the hall and found Leo in the kitchen. He was sitting at the bar, his laptop open in front of him, typing as if nothing had happened. When he saw me, his shoulders tensed.
‘Sorry, Mona,’ he said. ‘I need to work here. The air conditioning in the office is acting up again. I barely finished my meeting earlier.’
‘Why did you yell at Grace today?’ I asked calmly but firmly. ‘What did she “have no right” to tell me?’
He slowly looked up, blinking as if I were speaking a foreign language.
‘What?’ he muttered.
‘I heard you,’ I continued, my heart still burning in my chest. ‘I was on the phone when she called you.’
‘Darling, you misunderstood, I…’
‘What? Am I exaggerating? Am I making this up?’ I interrupted. ‘I heard you, Leo. I left work because of that call. Are you going to talk, or am I taking Grace to my mother’s? Tonight.’
My husband looked at me for a long time. Then he sighed deeply and ran his hands over his face.
‘Please don’t do this,’ he whispered.
‘Then tell me the truth.’
‘There’s something I’ve been hiding from you, Mona. For a long time,’ he said, closing his laptop.
I waited for the story to finally come out.
‘Before I met you,’ he continued, “there was another woman. Leslie. We were together for a while, and it ended very badly. We couldn’t make our relationship work anymore, and in the end, we became toxic to each other. But a few months after we broke up, Leslie came back — pregnant. She said the baby was mine.
At first, she didn’t want anything from me. But when I met you, I was afraid she would ruin everything. So I offered her money, not for her silence, but… as help. In exchange for our peace of mind. Leslie agreed because, honestly, it was impossible to raise a child together in a healthy environment.
Leo paused and looked at me. I remained silent, only nodding once.
“In the end, she got married, and her husband adopted the child.
He’s almost eight now. I haven’t seen him since the paternity test, and that was before our… marriage. I just… sent money. Secretly. That’s what today’s meeting was about. Leslie came to ask for more.