“For what?”
“This.”
“You didn’t secretly produce an identical twin thirty-one years ago.”
Despite herself, Evelyn laughed through tears.
James kissed her forehead.
“Stop apologizing.”
At 2:14 that afternoon, the wedding was formally canceled.
Guests received no explanation beyond “a family emergency.”
Most left quietly.
Some remained at the estate hoping for information.
Social media speculation began within an hour.
Evelyn ignored it.
Maisie’s aunt Rebecca regained full consciousness at Northwestern Memorial Hospital shortly before three.
Evelyn and James drove there with Maisie.
Margaret followed separately.
Rebecca was pale when they entered her room.
She saw Evelyn.
Her mouth fell open.
“Oh.”
Evelyn stopped near the doorway.
“You knew.”
Rebecca looked at Maisie.
The child ran toward the bed.
“Aunt Bee!”
Rebecca hugged her carefully.
“Oh, honey.”
“You slept too long.”
“I know.”
“You missed Mommy.”
Rebecca looked toward Evelyn.
“What does she mean?”
Evelyn stepped closer.
“Where is Nora?”
Rebecca’s face changed.
“I was hoping she was here.”
“No.”
Rebecca closed her eyes.
“Damn it.”
Evelyn sat beside the bed.
“Please.”
Rebecca looked at Margaret standing near the door.
Her expression hardened.
“You.”
Margaret said nothing.
Rebecca looked back toward Evelyn.
“Nora was coming to your wedding.”
“I know.”
“She came to my apartment yesterday morning.”
“In Milwaukee?”
“Yes.”
“She was angry.”
“At my mother?”
Rebecca laughed without humor.
“At everyone.”
Maisie climbed onto the bed.
Rebecca wrapped one arm around her.
“Nora had spent her whole life believing Elaine and Thomas Bell were her biological parents. They never told her she was adopted.”
Evelyn frowned.
“When did she find out?”
“Two years ago.”
“How?”
“Medical records.”
Nora had developed a thyroid condition.
During treatment, a doctor asked about a hereditary disorder listed in Elaine Bell’s family history.
Testing showed Nora did not carry the relevant markers.
Questions followed.
Thomas Bell had already died.
Elaine resisted.
Eventually she admitted the truth.
Nora had been adopted privately as an infant.
She knew little else.
“Why didn’t she search immediately?” Evelyn asked.
Rebecca smiled sadly.
“She was pregnant with Maisie. Her marriage had just ended. She had enough chaos.”
“Marriage?”
“Nora married at twenty-five.”