“But you didn’t.”
He was silent.
I turned toward Dakota.
“Does Lily know Tony is her father?”
She shook her head.
I stared at my husband.
“You have a four-year-old daughter who doesn’t know who her father is?”
“I’ve been supporting her financially.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
Tony looked away.
“I’ve visited a few times.”
“As her father?”
He hesitated.
“As a friend of Emily’s.”
My heart sank.
Suddenly, I remembered sitting by the window as a little girl, waiting for my father to arrive.
I’d promised myself that my children would never have to experience that uncertainty.
Now the man I’d married was allowing another child to grow up without knowing her father.
I looked at Dakota.
“Where is Emily now?”
Her expression changed.
“Emily passed away three months ago.”
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She’d been ill. Lily has been living with me since then.”
