I stared.
“But he’s Elena.”
“I know.”
“And you’re my stepmother.”
“I know.”
“This makes no sense.”
Rosalyn wiped her eyes.
“You’re still thinking Trevor is Elena.”
I froze.
“What?”
She shook her head.
“Trevor isn’t Elena.”
I stared at her.
“But he just told me—”
“He lied.”
My heart began pounding.
“Why?”
“To protect you.”
“From what?”
Rosalyn stepped closer.
“Because Elena really is dead.”
I stopped.
“Who is Trevor?”
Rosalyn looked at me.
Then she said the words that destroyed everything I thought I knew:
“Trevor is your biological father.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“Your father had an affair with your mother.”
“That was Daniel.”
“Daniel was only the story they gave you.”
“Why?”
“To hide the real affair.”
“With whom?”
Rosalyn looked toward the door.
And suddenly I understood why she had always hated me.
Why she had never hugged me.
