Mag-log inCHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY EIGHTKatelyn had always believed that knowing the truth was better than living with uncertainty. It was a principle she relied on in medicine, where an unanswered question could mean the difference between making the right decision and overlooking something important. But as she sat at the dining table that evening, staring at the blank page in front of her, she found herself wishing that the truth she needed to share with Avery could be made simpler. There was no medical explanation she could prepare in advance, no carefully chosen words that could guarantee her daughter would understand immediately. Avery was eight. She had grown up knowing Kevin as one of the people who loved and cared for her, and she had never questioned the shape of the family they had built together. Now Katelyn had to introduce a new piece of information without making the little girl feel that the life she knew was suddenly incomplete.She had written three sentences on th
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY SEVEN Katelyn exhaled slowly. "I don't know yet. I need to think about how we're going to tell Avery, and I need to understand what Damon expects from here. I don't want him making promises he can't keep, and I don't want Avery becoming attached to a situation that might change suddenly."Kevin leaned against the counter, considering her words. "Then those are things you need to discuss before anything changes. He can want to be involved, but wanting something doesn't mean he gets to decide how it happens."She looked at him, grateful that he was approaching the situation without making it about himself. Kevin had been part of Avery's life for long enough to understand her routines, her fears, and the little things that could turn an ordinary day into a difficult one. He had never tried to claim a place that belonged to someone else, but he had also never treated his relationship with Avery as temporary. Katelyn knew the news could eventually raise q
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-SIXKatelyn barely remembered the drive home. Her hands remained steady on the steering wheel, and she followed the familiar route without making a wrong turn, but her thoughts were elsewhere for most of the journey. Damon's admission had left her with more than one thing to process, and each time she tried to settle on a particular thought, another detail forced its way into her mind. He had known about Avery for several weeks. He had gone to her school, spoken to her, and allowed her to believe he was simply a man she had met through Bright Horizons. He had also attended events where Avery had approached him, all while keeping the paternity report to himself. Katelyn had not imagined that his interest in her daughter was entirely ordinary, but she had never considered that he already knew the truth and had deliberately chosen not to tell her.By the time she reached home, she had decided not to bring the conversation into the house immediately. A
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY-FIVEDamon shook his head slowly, "No.""Did you promise her anything?"Damon hesitated briefly. "She asked whether I would come back. I told her I would try."Katelyn closed her eyes for a moment. It was a small promise, but it was still a promise made to a child who had no idea what it meant. She thought of Avery waiting for him at another event, perhaps wondering why he had not returned, and felt her frustration deepen. "You should not have put her in that position.""I wasn't trying to hurt her.""I didn't say you were. But intentions don't erase the consequences of what you do."He accepted the criticism without arguing. He had no defence that would make his choices less troubling, and he knew that trying to justify them would only make the conversation worse. "I didn't want to take her away from you," he said eventually. "I wasn't planning to demand custody or change where she lives. I wanted to understand her before I made any decisions that wou
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY FOUR"Yes.""Why?""Because she wanted confirmation of something she had suspected."Katelyn looked at him for a long moment. She already knew who Avery's biological father was. She had known from the beginning, and it had been one of the reasons she had kept the truth from Damon for so many years. What she had not known was that Sarah had begun investigating her daughter, or that the older woman had taken the matter far enough to arrange a test. The thought made her stomach tighten. "Sarah had no right to investigate my child without my knowledge," she said. "Who gave her the information? How did she even find out?""I don't know exactly how she first came across Avery. She told me she began looking into your life and discovered you had a daughter. She didn't tell me every step she took, and I haven't seen all the information she gathered.""Your mother hired someone to look into my daughter, and you're telling me you don't know how she did it?""I'm
CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED AND NINETY THREEDamon was halfway through a meeting when Ethan entered his office with an expression that immediately drew his attention. The assistant waited until the other executives had finished presenting their figures before placing a folder beside Damon's laptop. He did not interrupt the meeting, but the brief note he slid across the desk made it clear that the matter required attention. Damon glanced down and read the message, his expression becoming increasingly rigid as he reached the final line. Mara Ellison had approached Katelyn at St. Catherine's Hospital. She had asked questions about the cancelled engagement and mentioned the private investigation concerning Avery. Damon looked up at Ethan, who remained standing beside the table."How much did she tell Katelyn?""According to the information we've been able to obtain, she said Sarah commissioned an investigation involving her daughter. She did not mention the paternity report, and we have no co
CHAPTER TWOThe woman’s question went unanswered for a solid ten seconds before her gaze shifted to the bags that Katelyn was carrying and recognition flashed in her blue eyes. “Oh, it’s you.” The woman scoffed and then sashayed back into the house, leaving the door open. Without another word, Ka
CHAPTER ONE“You murderer!”A resounding slap followed those words from Katelyn’s Mother-in-law. The entire extended family gasped in shock but no one made a move to help. Not even Katelyn’s husband, Damon Winchester. He just stood there, watching lazily, like he always did while his mother berated
CHAPTER SIXHer full name was Genevieve Sterling. Katelyn knew this because of Stella who wanted to know what exactly made Genevieve ‘special’. All it took was a single search on social media to find out just how special she was. She was an heiress to a multimillionaire luxury mall business, a ri
CHAPTER SEVEN*TRIGGER WARNING: ASSAULT, GRAPHIC DESCRIPTIONS***********Katelyn hated being idle. It always left her mind open for unwanted thoughts and bad memories. She had done every single thing she could think of to keep herself busy, including visiting the hospital to check her fertility st







