Frederick stepped forward quickly, positioning himself between us. "Roland—brother—don't blame Rosemary. Dad and I asked her to keep it quiet. We didn't want to upset you. We were going to tell you when the time was right."
His voice turned conciliatory, almost gentle. "She and I were at the same university. We... dated, briefly. But her family forced her to come back for an arranged marriage, so we broke up."
He held up his hands in a placating gesture. "I swear I'm not trying to take her from you. I just—today was a shock. I never imagined your mother would... do something so drastic."
Rosemary said nothing. Her silence was confirmation enough.
The absurdity of it crashed over me like ice water.
She knew. She'd known all along that my father had a secret son, and she'd kept it from me.
If I'd found out sooner, maybe I could have prevented this. Maybe I could have protected my mother from that ambush.
Maybe she'd still be alive.
My silence stretched. Frederick rushed to fill it.
"Roland, Mom and I genuinely wanted to pay our respects. No matter what anyone says, your mother did die because of us. I feel terrible about it."
Frederick's voice dripped with false sincerity.