Before I could process what that meant, I felt Carolyn stiffen beside me. When I turned to look at her, her face had turned pale.
“Carolyn?” I asked, suddenly uncertain.
She swallowed hard.
“I need to tell you something…”
The minister cleared his throat awkwardly. “Perhaps we should take a brief recess—”
“No,” Carolyn said firmly, her eyes never leaving mine. “I need to say this now.”
She took a shaky breath.
“When I was 18, I got pregnant. A little girl with a birthmark similar to mine. But I wasn’t ready to be a mother.
I gave my daughter up for adoption.”
Gasps echoed through the chapel. My mind raced, trying to make sense of her words. This meant Tim’s classmate could be her daughter — her long-lost child.
The silence in the room became suffocating.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked, my voice softer now, aware of our audience but unable to postpone this conversation.
Carolyn’s eyes filled with tears.
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