Chapter 4 - What Was Under the CakeThe few people still near the table went silent. Bianca walked toward us. "Trent, what is that?"

"Nothing," he said.

I almost laughed. Nothing. He'd swapped a sealed medical result. Paid a bakery $500 to use a different envelope. A stranger had hidden something under my daughter's cake.

Nothing was not an answer.

I looked at Bianca. "Do you know a woman who was with Trent at the bakery this morning?"

Her face went still. Trent turned sharply. "Rose, stop."

"No," I said. "You stop."

"What woman?" Bianca asked.

Trent rubbed both hands over his face. The baker unlocked her phone again. "I have security footage."

"Show me," Bianca said.

"Lauren—" Trent started. Her real name was Bianca, but I understood the slip meant nothing right then.

"I said, SHOW ME."

The baker turned the screen toward her. I watched my daughter's face move through confusion, then recognition. Her lips parted. "Oh my God."

"You know her?" I asked.

She nodded once. "Her name is Tania."

Trent closed his eyes.

"Why was she with you?" Bianca asked. He said nothing. Her voice cracked. "Why was she with you, Trent?"

Guests were drifting away now. My sister quietly took two kids inside. Nobody wanted to watch. Nobody could quite look away either.

Finally Trent spoke. "I was trying to fix something."

"Fix what?"

He looked down. I handed Bianca the envelope. Her fingers trembled.

"Open it," I said.

"Bianca, please," Trent said, stepping forward.

She backed away. I could see that it hurt him — but I also saw something else. He'd expected this moment eventually. Just not today.

She tore it open. Inside was a folded note and a photograph. She pulled the photograph out first. I couldn't see it clearly from where I stood, but Bianca could. The color drained from her face. She gripped the table.

"Who is this child?"

Trent looked sick. I stepped closer. The photograph showed him beside Tania. Between them stood a little girl, maybe three years old, with his eyes.

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I understood before anyone said a word. So did Bianca.

Her hand flew to her stomach. "No," she whispered.