She stopped a few feet away from us, her eyes instantly shifting to Caroline.

A soft, broken sound came from her throat, and she pressed her hand to her mouth.

“You are so beautiful,” Rebecca whispered, her shoulders trembling. “You have your grandmother’s eyes.”

“Why are you here, Rebecca?” Caroline asked.

Her tone was not angry, but it was guarded, the defense mechanism of a girl who had spent sixteen years wondering why she wasn’t wanted.

Before Rebecca could answer, the cafe door flew open behind us.

Thomas came out into the rain, his leather shoes slipping slightly on the wet brick sidewalk.

“Get back in your car, Rebecca,” Thomas snarled, his polite facade completely gone. “We have a legal agreement. You signed the relinquishment.”

“Because you forced me to!” Rebecca screamed.

Her voice was so sharp it made a passing pedestrian stop and look.

“You told me you would ruin me,” she said, tears mixing with the rain on her face. “You told me you would take everything.”

“That is a lie,” Thomas said, stepping between us, but his chest was heaving and he wouldn’t meet my eyes.