Jennifer sat across from her sister in the corner booth of their favorite restaurant, pushing scrambled eggs around her plate. Three days had passed since Michael's confession, and it was finally wearing off, replaced by something far more complicated.
"So he just... came out with it?" Diane leaned forward, holding coffee mug halfway to her lips. "He rushed in the house in shock and nervous. Then said he has a pregnant mistress?"
Jennifer nodded. "Then he said she's threatening to tell me everything if he doesn't send her to Europe." She slightly laugh sounding more like a hiccup. "Like I'm supposed to be all right with what he told me out his mouth." Said Jennifer out of anger.
"What an absolute piece of………" Diane's anger only a sister could have. "And you just... left? Without saying anything?"
"I needed to think," Jennifer said, lowering her voice as a waitress passed. "There's more to it, Di. So much more."
Diane raised an eyebrow. "Don’t tell me it’s than your husband cheating and fathering a child with another woman?"
Jennifer pushed her plate away and leaned in. "I’m going to let you in on a secret that nobody knows but me."
"What are talking about secret?"
"Michael's infertile. Has been since before we met."
Diane's mouth fell open. "Wait, what the hell? But you have two kids!"
"Exactly."
"Oh sh..." Diane set down her mug making a clunk sound, sloshing coffee onto the table. "So not only is this woman lying, but if you tell him—"
"He'll know Tyler and Latisha aren't biologically his," Jennifer finished, a tear sliding down her cheek. "Our whole family will implode."
"Jen, I—" Diane reached across the table to hold her sister's hand. "How is this even possible? How does he not know?"
Jennifer wiped her eyes with a napkin. "Remember when we were trying to have kids? All those tests, the specialist appointments? I got my results first—I was fine. But Michael... the doctor told me privately. Complete azoospermia. Zero sperm count."
"And you never told him?"
"I was going to, but then I saw how devastated he was by the whole process. He kept saying he felt like less of a man. So I suggested, what about a donor, “hypothetically”. He shut down completely, said he'd rather adopt than have 'some stranger's sauce in you.'”
"So you just... what? Found a donor without telling him?"
Jennifer nodded slowly. "His brother, Jason."
"What the ……! Jason? Are you serious?"
"It made sense at the time! Same genetics, same features. The kids would look like Michael, be related to him. Jason agreed to keep it secret."
Diane whistled low. "And now this mistress woman is claiming she's pregnant with Michael's baby."
"Which is impossible," Jennifer said. "She's either lying or cheating on him too."
"What are you going to do?"
Jennifer stared out the window at the bright sunny city morning. "That's what I've been trying to figure out. If I expose her lie, I expose mine. If I stay quiet, Michael might leave me for her." She turned back to her sister, eyes tearing. "For ten years, I've been living with this secret to protect him. Now I'm trapped by it."
Diane squeezed her hand. "We will have to figure something out. There's nothing else that’s needs to be said something else?
Jennifer nodded slowly. "Last night, I did some research. Found her on social media. This woman... she's Jason's ex-girlfriend. I think she knows, Di. she knows what me and Jason did and she knows Michael is not the father of her child."
"Oh, Jen... you have all kinds of crap going on" I didn’t think I was going this way. Diane's face in a shock and paled. "This isn't just about money or Europe, is it?"
"No," Jennifer whispered. "I think it's about revenge."
The sisters sat in silence. Outside, the city moved on, oblivious to the number of lies that was about to be revealed.