Just to make sure I wasn't about to destroy the wrong person, I pulled up Valerie's photo and dropped it into the family group chat.
I tagged my father, who was currently on a flight to Bayview City:
[Old man, did you go behind Mom's back and father some illegitimate daughter I don't know about?]
1.
A second later, my phone rang. My father's voice exploded through the speaker:
"You little brat! Are you so tired of suffering that you're trying to sabotage my marriage? I'm chained to your mother's waist twenty-four-seven—when would I have time to father a secret child?!"
My mother's thunderous roar erupted in the background, accompanied by my father's yelps of pain.
That confirmed it. Valerie Pruitt was a fraud.
I hung up and turned to Elwin. "Are you sure you want to marry her?"
"Yes."
He spun around, eyes shining with hope as he gazed at Valerie. "Valerie, will you marry me?"
His hand trembled as he held out the ring. The excitement radiating off him was almost painful to watch.
This was the scene I'd imagined a thousand times. But the woman he was proposing to wasn't me anymore.
Five years. Five brutal years of building this life with Elwin Gilbert.