why she had arrived with the test results in the middle of the night.
She hadn’t come only to reveal Vanessa’s secret.
She had come because her own secret was about to be exposed.
Eric lowered the phone.
“Diane.”
She stopped.
“What happened thirty-four years ago?”
Diane looked at Vanessa.
Tears rolled down her face.
Then she whispered five words that changed the entire story.
“I was supposed to return you.”
Vanessa stared at her.
“What does that mean?”
Before Diane could answer, Rebecca’s voice came urgently through the phone.
“Vanessa, listen to me. There’s something Diane still hasn’t told you.”
Vanessa took the phone from Eric with trembling fingers.
“What?”
Rebecca was silent for several seconds.
Then she said:
“You weren’t the only baby.”
Vanessa stopped breathing.
Eric looked at Diane.
I felt every hair on my arms rise.
Rebecca continued.
“You have a twin sister.”
Vanessa’s knees nearly
Eric caught her.
But Rebecca wasn’t finished.
“And three weeks ago, your sister contacted me.”
Vanessa gripped the phone.
“Why?”
Rebecca’s answer made Diane close her eyes.
“Because she found you first.”
Vanessa stared across the room at the woman she had called Mom her entire life.
Then Rebecca said one final sentence.
“And she believes Diane knows exactly why the two of you were separated.”
