I stared at the name for a second, frozen. My fingers felt numb as the phone buzzed insistently in my hand. James leaned toward me.
“Who is that?” he whispered.
“Lily’s biological father.”
James’ eyes widened. The room around me blurred as the phone kept vibrating. I stepped away from the cluster of relatives and pressed the answer button with a trembling thumb.
Before I could say anything, a man’s voice slid through the line with a confidence that made my skin crawl.
“Cara. It’s been a long time.”
My heart lodged in my throat.
“Why are you calling me?”
He gave a little laugh, smooth and smug.
“I saw the livestream. Hard to miss. You’ve done pretty well for yourself, huh? Construction company, reputation, all that attention. Looks like life worked out for you. And for Lily.”
My stomach twisted. I wanted to hang up, but something in his tone held me still. I kept my voice flat.
“What do you want?”
He pretended to sigh, like this was just a hard conversation between old friends.
“I’ve been thinking. Maybe it’s time for me to be involved again. She’s my daughter too. And I think it’d be good for her to have her father in her life. Especially now that everything is blowing up over there.”