“You see, I think my dad…is your dad too,” Hailey said with a shrug.

I immediately tossed the photo at her, shaking my head as both pain and rage sizzled my stomach. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. John Kyle was my dad. He’s dead, both my parents are dead. I have no family.” Dad? No, Gavin wasn’t “Dad” to me. He was nothing to me.

Hailey’s face scrunched in a look that expressed both guilt and determination as she shoved the photo back into her bag. “I’m sorry, I know this is hard to hear…weird to hear, probably. But trust me, John Kyle wasn’t your biological father. My dad…he told me what happened between him and your mom. He told me about the affair. He told me he left when your mom got pregnant. I’ve known all about you my entire life. I’ve been wanting to meet you…my entire life.”

Her voice warbled with emotion, and my jaw slackened as I stared at her. And that was when what she was saying took on an entirely different meaning for me. The anger shifted into an odd, yet profound sense of wonder as I took in the unmistakable similarities. I felt like I was in some alternate reality as I scanned her face: the rare, midnight-blue eyes, the line of her jaw, the perfectly placed cheekbones, the curve of her mouth…it was all a more feminine version…of me.

“You’re my…sister?” My voice hitched on the word, a word I never thought would be associated with me. A word I suddenly, desperately wanted to be associated with me.

Hailey smiled, and I was again struck by how much we looked alike. How did I not see it instantly? A fat tear rolled down her cheek as she nodded. “Yeah. Surprise.”

A laugh escaped me, and then I was pulling her into me for a hug. I’d never in a million years thought I’d have family out there somewhere that wanted to know me. It was like a prayer I hadn’t even asked for had somehow been answered. But even still, a painful sear ripped through me when her slim arms wrapped around me, and I immediately let her go. It was too much.

We stumbled apart from each other, and she had the same overwhelmed expression on her face. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I lied. I do know…about him.”

I couldn’t even clarify who I meant, but Hailey nodded, understanding. “Do you want to meet him?”