I found Mom’s daughter online that night. Her page was full of birthdays, school events, and beach trips. Mom appeared in nearly every picture.
“Are you sure?”
I sent one message:
“I believe we have the same mother. Did she ever mention a daughter named Simone?”
I added my number, just in case.
The reply came the next morning.
“Our mom doesn’t have another daughter.”
I sent a photograph of the fifth-birthday card.
The reply came.
***
My phone rang less than a minute later.
“Where did you get that?” she asked.
“From my father’s apartment.”
“She told us she never had children before us. She said she’d been married.”
“She had a child. She decided not to raise her.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Then meet me.”
“She had a child.”
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