Elspeth’s breath hitched. “Why? Are you protecting her? and the child?”
Aldrich remembered how his mother’s hands shook that night. Not violently, but it was worse, like a cracks forming on a stone. She had always been elegant, a wife and a loving mother. But seeing her like that, was terrified him more than the argument itself.
“That child is innocent,” his father said. “Whatever anger you have, direct it at me.”
Elspeth’s eyes filled with tears, but they never fell. “Innocent?” she echoed. “So you admit it.”
His father closed his eyes. That was all the answer she needed.
Aldrich’s heart had burned then, confusion knotting tightly with betrayal. A sibling? Somewhere out there? A stranger who shared his blood?
“Who are they?” Elspeth whispered now, her voice dangerously calm. “Where
