Chapter 5 - Why Anouk was called a bastard
Her mother was Celeste Ward.
We were never married.
Celeste died from an aneurysm when Anouk was three.
My daughter was legally acknowledged as mine from birth.
My name on the certificate.
Paternity never disputed.
Custody simple after Celeste’s death.
But in old families obsessed with appearances, there were still people who whispered:
Illegitimate.
Outside child.
Mistake.
I had removed several of those people from my home years earlier.
Seraphina knew that.
When we started dating, she said:
“A child is a child.”
I remembered the sentence.
Now Anouk told the social worker:
“She calls me bastard when nobody hears.”
How often?
“Lots.”
“Did she explain what it means?”
May you like
“She said it means Daddy had me wrong.”
That sentence made something inside me break very quietly.
