The Twins in the Hallway
I found them on the third floor. Maren looked older, stronger — but when she saw me, her face drained of color. “Adrian?” She stepped in front of the children, protecting them from the stranger I’d become.
The boy stepped forward. “Are you Adrian Whitmore? The businessman on TV?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
Maren crouched down. “Rowan, Maisie — this is someone I knew a long time ago. We were married, before you were born.”
Rowan looked straight into my eyes. “Is he our father?”
The truth hung in the cold air. Maren whispered: “Yes — he is your biological father.”
Rowan stayed steady. “Did you know about us?”
“No.”
“Would you have wanted us?”
I could have spoken smoothly. Instead, I said what was true: “I don’t know if I was the man you deserved back then. But I would have given anything for the chance to love you.”
