Sabrina remained quiet for a moment, her smile tinged with sadness. "I do know. Jennie is your daughter by blood. That explains why she resembles you. I never had any suspicions..."
"Forgive me, Sabrina. I never intended to deceive you. The truth is, I only found out yesterday that Jennie is my daughter," Tyrone confessed, his voice low and strained.
"You and Keilani... What exactly happened between you two?" Sabrina couldn't resist asking, her voice gentle.
It was a relief Sabrina chose to ask. It was far better than shutting him out. With a hint of pain in his voice, Tyrone insisted, "Sabrina, I swear I had no idea who she was... It was a chance incident, six years back..."
It happened one summer, six years ago, at a party. Tyrone began to feel ill, suspecting someone had slipped something into his drink. He went upstairs to the hotel to rest.
Overwhelmed by dizziness and a faint feeling, he hallucinated that a divine figure came to him, and they had sex. The next morning, he woke up to find himself alone.
Tyrone had people look into the matter, but they came up empty-handed. The woman from that night seemed like nothing more than a figment of his imagination.
After a fruitless search, he eventually set the matter aside. As time marched on, the memory faded.
Yesterday, Kira revealed to Tyrone that Keilani was the woman from that night.
From Kira's account, Keilani came to Mathias, looking for some fun. Their unintended encounter led to sex, and as a result, Keilani became pregnant. Feeling angry, frightened, and panicked, Keilani didn't wake Tyrone up. Instead, she dashed out of the hotel, intending to call the police. However, Kira, who already knew about the incident, intercepted her. Kira went out of her way to calm Keilani down, using persuasion, coercion, and even bribes. She promised to erase all evidence of the incident.
Back then, Keilani was just twenty, a naive girl closely guarded by her family. She took Kira's advice and immediately left Mathias behind.
A few months later, Keilani was in a panic when she called Kira from Hoijery. She admitted she was so upset that she forgot to take postcoital contraceptives. It was only then she realized she was pregnant and was too afraid to tell her parents.
Later, Keilani used studying abroad as a pretext to come to Hoijery. After giving birth to Jennie, she left the child with Kira and returned to Philade. They lost touch after that.
Recently, in a Philade bar, Tyrone and Kira had a face-to-face chat, and Keilani recognized Kira. That was when Keilani supposedly found out Tyrone was the man from that night and decided to have Jennie back.
The above story was what Kira had told Tyrone. While there might be some untruths between them, a paternity test confirmed Jennie was born ten months after Tyrone's encounter with Keilani.
"Well... That's everything. Sabrina, you've got to believe me. I don't have any feelings for Keilani... It truly was just "an accident..."
"It might have been an accident, but you have a child together..."
Had it been just a one-night stand, Sabrina wouldn't have been so torn. After all, back then, Tyrone was just a brother figure in the family she had been adopted into.
Tyrone gave a rueful smile. "That's why I haven't come back. I just don't know how to face you..."
Tyrone didn't know how to face Sabrina since they had lost their baby and thought Sabrina couldn't conceive again.
Before knowing Jennie was his own daughter, Tyrone developed a fondness for Jennie since the latter was bright and adorable. Adopting her seemed like a wise choice.
But, out of the blue, Kira claimed Jennie was Tyrone's own flesh and blood. This revelation hit Sabrina hard.
"You're avoiding me not because Jennie is your daughter, but because you're hoping I'll take her in as if she were mine, pretending everything's okay, and we can just carry on as usual... Am I right, Tyrone?"
Tyrone opened his mouth to retort but found no words came out. She was right. He did entertain that idea. He wanted to keep the woman he loved by his side without having to let go of his daughter.
At Tyrone's silence, Sabrina's mouth quivered slightly. "You should go. I can't bear to look at you right now."
"Sabrina..."
"Let's talk about it once I've had time to cool off."