Chapter 6: The DNA Result That Destroyed Everything
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Daniel laughed.
It was a terrible sound, sharp and broken, nothing like the laughter I'd heard from him when he arrived at the restaurant that morning.
“You're telling me,” he said slowly, “that you had a baby with another man, and you don't know who the father is?””
Claire's face crumpled.
“I was confused. I was lonely. You were barely speaking to me after the treatments—”
“Don't.””
Daniel raised his hand.
“Don't blame me for your affair.””
She fell silent.
He picked up the laboratory report again.
“And how did my name end up on this test?””
Claire shook her head.
“Marcus said he needed to rule out everyone connected to us.””
“That makes no sense.””
“I know.””
“Why would I be tested against a baby conceived while you were living with him?””
She stared at the floor.
“I don't know.””
Daniel threw the report onto the table.
“Then call him.””
Claire looked terrified.
“He won't answer.””
“Call him anyway.””
She slowly reached for her phone, but Daniel stopped her.
“No. I'll call him.””
He pressed Marcus's number.
This time, the call went straight to voicemail.
Daniel tried again.
Nothing.
He sent a message.
You have five minutes to tell me what that report means.
Then he placed the phone on the table and turned toward our mother.
“You said you didn't know about the baby until later. When exactly did you find out?””
Mom twisted her wedding ring.
“Three months after she gave birth.””
“And what did you do?””
“I went to see her.””
“Where?””
“At the hospital.””
Daniel closed his eyes.
“You visited Claire in the hospital after she gave birth to another man's child, and you didn't tell me?””
“I thought I was protecting you.””
“Everybody keeps saying that!”” Daniel shouted.
“What is wrong with all of you?””
Sophie started crying again.
I carried her into the hallway, where the restaurant's soft lighting fell across framed photographs of old Dallas buildings.
“Mommy, is Uncle Daniel sad?””
I brushed her hair away from her forehead.
“Yes, sweetheart.””
“Did I make him sad?””
My heart cracked.
“No. You told the truth. You didn't do anything wrong.””
“But Aunt Claire shouted at me.””
“I know.””
“Are you mad at me?””
I held her tighter.
“Never.””
She buried her face against my shoulder.
“I didn't want everybody to be mad.””
I kissed the top of her head.
“Sometimes people get angry when someone tells the truth they've been hiding. That doesn't mean the person telling the truth did anything wrong.””
From inside the room, I heard Daniel say, “Mom, I need you to leave.””
Then my mother began pleading.
“Daniel, please. I'm your mother.””
“And I'm your son. You watched me suffer for years. You watched me spend my savings on treatments. You knew Claire had given birth to another man's child, and you let me keep believing we were trying to have one of our own.””
“I thought there was still a chance.””
“A chance for what?””
“For you to be happy.””
Daniel's reply was so quiet I almost didn't hear it.
“I was happy. I was happy because I trusted you.””
A door opened.
Mom emerged from the room with her handbag pressed against her chest. Her mascara had run down her cheeks.
She stopped when she saw Sophie and me.
“Emily, please talk to him.””
I shook my head.
“You need to let him make his own decisions.””
She looked at Sophie.
“I'm sorry, sweetheart.””
Sophie hid behind my legs.
Mom flinched at the sight.
Then she walked away.
When I returned to the room, Daniel was sitting alone at the table.
Claire stood near the window, her artificial belly still secured beneath her dress. Without the excited guests surrounding her, the padded shape looked strangely out of place.
Daniel had removed his wedding ring.
He was turning it between his fingers.
“Emily,” he said without looking up, “do you remember when Dad died?””
I sat beside him.
“Of course.””
“You told me that grief makes people do things they never imagined they could do.””
I nodded.
“You said it doesn't excuse what they do. It just means we should try to understand why.””
His fingers closed around the ring.
“I've been trying to understand Claire for eight months. Every time she cried, I thought she was scared something would happen to the baby. Every time she wouldn't let me touch her stomach, I thought she was uncomfortable. Every time she made an excuse about the doctor, I believed her.””
He looked at me.
“I built my entire life around a lie.””
I had no words.
Then his phone vibrated.
A message from Marcus appeared.
I'm coming. Don't let Claire leave until I get there.
Daniel read it twice.
“Why would he tell me not to let her leave?””
Claire turned from the window.
“Because he's afraid.””
“Of what?””
She didn't answer.
Daniel stood.
“I'm done asking you questions you refuse to answer.””
He moved toward the door, but Claire grabbed his arm.
“Please. You need to hear me out before Marcus arrives.””
Daniel pulled free.
“You've had eight months.””
“I was going to tell you!””
“When?””
“After the baby came.””
He stared at her.
“What baby, Claire?””
She looked down at the padded stomach.
Then she whispered, “I was going to tell you I lost it.””
Daniel's face hardened.
“You were going to fake a miscarriage?””
Claire nodded, sobbing.
“I thought it would be easier than admitting the truth.””
I felt sick.
She had planned to turn a nonexistent child into a tragedy, forcing Daniel to comfort her for losing something she had never carried.
And if Sophie hadn't spoken up, she might have succeeded.
Daniel stepped away from her.
“You need help, Claire. Professional help. But I cannot be the person who saves you from the consequences of this.””
Claire sank into a chair.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Three sharp knocks.
Daniel opened it.
Marcus stood in the hallway, his blue shirt wrinkled, his hair damp with sweat. He looked from Daniel to Claire, then noticed the laboratory report on the table.
He stopped.
“You opened it.””
Daniel grabbed him by the collar.
“You stole forty-five thousand dollars from me. You slept with my wife. You helped her fake a pregnancy. And now there's a DNA report with my name on it.””
Marcus didn't resist.
“I can explain.””
Daniel shoved him against the doorframe.
“Then explain!””
Marcus looked at Claire.
She shook her head desperately.
“Don't,” she whispered.
But Marcus seemed to have reached the end of his own fear.
He pulled a folded document from his pocket and placed it on the table.
“There's a reason I asked for that DNA test,” he said.
Daniel released his collar.
“What reason?””
Marcus swallowed.
“Because the baby Claire gave birth to might not be mine.””
Claire began shaking her head.
“No. You promised you wouldn't tell him.””
Marcus ignored her.
He turned toward Daniel, his eyes filled with a guilt that looked almost unbearable.
“Before Claire and I started the affair, something happened at your house. You were drunk after your father's memorial. You barely remember that night.””
Daniel stared at him.
“What are you talking about?””
Marcus placed the document beside the laboratory report.
“The test wasn't ordered to prove I was the father.””
His voice dropped.
“It was ordered because the results suggested the child could be related to you.””
Daniel looked down at the paper.
Then Marcus said the words that made the room seem to tilt beneath our feet.
“Daniel, there's a possibility that the little girl Claire gave up for adoption is your biological daughter.””
May you like
Claire screamed.
And Daniel, who had spent years praying for a child, stared at the report as if the cruelest miracle imaginable had just been placed in his hands.
