I stared at Nathaniel, his words echoing in my head. "What are you saying?"
"Just an observation." Nathaniel sat on the edge of my hospital bed. "The resemblance is striking. You have her eyes, her mannerisms."
My throat tightened. "It's always been that way. Growing up, Ivy would fly into rages whenever someone mentioned it."
"Tell me more."
I hesitated, then let the words spill out. "Every time someone would comment on how I looked just like Mrs. Johnson, Ivy would punish me afterward. As if I'd done it on purpose."
Nathaniel's eyes narrowed. "And Imogen?"
"She hated it too. She'd throw tantrums whenever people mistook me for Mrs. Johnson's daughter instead of her." I laughed bitterly. "The irony is, I actually took a DNA test once."
His eyebrows shot up. "You did?"
"When I was sixteen. I saved up for months, secretly hoping..." I swallowed hard. "Hoping Ivy wasn't my real mother. That there'd been some mistake."
"And?"
