When Kate called her to tell her about Lily, Blaire was crushed. Over the years, they’d stayed in touch sporadically via email, but she’d gotten Lily’s letter and its news only two days earlier. After the initial shock, she’d been furious. How could Lily have never told her the truth? She almost ripped the letter to shreds, she was so enraged. But then she realized that she still had a family. Lily wanted her to come back to Baltimore. To take her place with them. She needed a family—the one she had made with Daniel had completely fallen apart.

He’d been frustrated with her resistance to adoption. She’d tried to explain it to him, but he didn’t get it. She wanted her own child, someone connected through blood. Now, knowing what she did about her own history, she wondered if Shaina had ever really felt connected to her. Was the fact that Blaire wasn’t her biological daughter the reason it had been so easy for her to leave her behind? And her father—sending her away once he’d gotten married, making Enid a priority over her. She wanted to know what it felt like for someone to share her blood. Even Kate had been able to replace her with Selby at the drop of a hat. She wanted a child who would never be able to leave her.

She was devastated when Daniel left, and on an impulse she’d called Lily. They normally emailed every few months, but it had been a long time since she’d heard Lily’s voice.

“Hi, Lily.” She’d choked back a sob. “It’s Blaire.”

“Blaire? Darling, what’s wrong?”

“He left me. Daniel left me. I’m all alone. No one’s left.”

They’d talked for hours that night, and before they hung up, Lily spoke the last words Blaire would ever hear from her.

“It’s going to be okay, I promise. You’re not alone. Trust me on this: things are going to get better.”

And then, a week later, she’d gotten Lily’s letter. She couldn’t call her father and demand to know why he’d never told her. She had never had any idea that she was adopted. But he was gone now, and she wouldn’t give Enid the satisfaction of asking her.