Chloe stopped breathing for a moment.
Spencer stepped forward.
“Give me that paper.”
“No,” she said.
“Chloe, listen to me.”
“No!”
Her voice cracked across the patio.
Several guests turned toward us.
Spencer lowered his voice, suddenly attempting to sound reasonable.
“Baby, you’re overwhelmed. You’ve been through so much. You’re exhausted. Let me explain this privately.”
“You lied about our baby’s gender?”
“I was trying to protect you.”
“Protect me from what?”
He glanced around at the guests.
“Not here.”
Chloe looked at him as if she no longer recognized the man standing in front of her.
“You let me cry over a cake because you wanted a different answer.”
“I never wanted you to cry.”
“Then why did you do it?”
He had no answer.
For several seconds, the only sound was the wind moving through the trees.
Then Spencer made a mistake.
He looked at me and said, “Your daughter doesn’t understand how complicated this is. My father has expectations. There are family responsibilities she knows nothing about.”
