Page 96 of The Half Sister

37

Kate

‘Lauren!’ Kate shouts through the letterbox, whilst simultaneously banging on the door with her hand. ‘Open the door!’

The rage that she had largely managed to contain from her mother’s house to here is threatening to boil over. How could they have kept this vital piece of information secret for all this time? Whilst Kate is running all over the country, desperate to uncover the truth and vindicate her father, Lauren and their mother have known from the outsetexactlywho Jess is.

Suddenly everything seems to make perfect sense; their closeness back then and as they were growing up; the colossal rows that Kate would cover her ears to; the seemingly natural pairings of Lauren and Rose versus Kate and Harry. It’s all so crystal clear. Except now, instead of believing that the special relationship she’d shared with her father was what he wanted, it now feels as if it was forced; exiled by his wife and firstborn. How could they have done this? How could they have left Jess to a life of foster care and misery? No wonder she had come looking for answers, prepared to take anyone down who came between her and the truth.

Tears of fury run down Kate’s face as she continues to slam her palm against the door. ‘Lauren!’ she shouts.

The door opens and Kate almost falls into the woman on the other side. But it’s not Lauren.

‘Kate! What on earth’s wrong?’

‘You!’ cries Kate. ‘What the hell are you doing here?’

Jess puts a finger to her lips. ‘Please, I’ve just managed to get Jude asleep.’

‘What?’ says Kate. ‘Are you here alone? Where’s Lauren?’

‘She’s gone out,’ says Jess. ‘With Simon.’

‘You’re looking after the children?’ says Kate in utter disbelief.

Jess looks at the floor. ‘Well, yes, I...’

Kate gives a hollow laugh. ‘Oh my God, this is insane. So you know? You’re in on it as well? Everybody knows but me, it seems.’ She swallows the acrid taste in her mouth that makes her feel like she’s drowning. ‘Where is she?’ asks Kate, lowering her voice, if not for Jess, then for the children. ‘Where’s Lauren?’

‘I...I don’t know,’ stutters Jess. ‘She went out a couple of hours ago. She didn’t say where – I assume she was meeting Simon in town.’

Kate shakes her head numbly as she calls Lauren for the seventh time.

‘What’s wrong?’ asks Jess. ‘What’s happened?’

‘Whoareyou?’ hisses Kate, leaning in close.

‘I...I’m sorry, I don’t...’

‘You’re not Jess Linley at all, are you?’

Jess recoils, physically backstepping into the living room as Kate follows her.

‘I’ve been to visit some of your old friends in Bournemouth.’

Jess’s eyes widen. ‘You have? W-why?’

‘Because I knew something wasn’t right. Your story just didn’t add up and now I know why.’

Jess raises her eyebrows in question, but it doesn’t look as though she wants to hear the answer.

‘There was no way my dad would have done what everyone’s been accusing him of.’

‘But Harrywasmy dad,’ says Jess, laughing nervously. ‘It’s been proven by DNA testing.’

Kate looks at Jess as if seeing her for the vulnerable young woman she is for the first time.

‘They haven’t told you, have they?’ she asks incredulously, almost to herself.

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