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A daughter He squeezed his eyes shut

Madelaine had kept her froht to even know of her existence She knew he’d thought she had an abortion, and she’d let hi that, let hi he was a father “You bitch,” he hissed Anger was a black, bitter taste in his mouth, and he wanted to hurl curse words at her, wanted to ht now

He was glad when she flinched Then, wordlessly, she reached into her purse and pulled out a black leather wallet Flipping it open, she withdrew a picture and handed it to him

For a second his hands shook so hard, he couldn’t focus on the picture He closed his eyes and concentrated on his breathing, ignoring the stuttering ed heart Then, very slowly, he opened his eyes

The girl who stared back at him was a mirror

His daughter

She looked young, with electric blue eyes and jet-black hair The s She was dressed in black, a ing froaze that el feel as if he knew her

He couldn’t release the picture He held it, stroking the porous surface, as if by touching the photograph he could sohter

Slowly, the anger in hiret Of course Madelaine had kept this secret froiven her?

“I’ht…”

“No,” she said in a steely voice, “you don’t”

“I thought…” He found he couldn’t say the words

She nodded “I know You thought I had an abortion My father couldn’t wait to tell me of your reaction”

“Tell me what happened”

She looked away fro ti her He wished he could touch her, tell her it was okay, that he understood, but he couldn’t do it He didn’t understand a da