Chapter 13: The Truth Maya Was Trying to Protect
I stared at the name on Ethan’s message until my hands went numb.
Maya.
My daughter.
The same girl I had spent the last few days defending.
The same girl I promised I would always believe.
My first instinct was disbelief.
My second was fear.
Not fear that she had betrayed me.
Fear that she had been forced into something she didn’t understand.
I walked upstairs slowly.
Maya was sitting at her desk, writing something in a notebook.
She looked up.
The moment she saw my face, she knew.
“You know.””
I closed the door behind me.
“Maya.””
She put down her pen.
“I can explain.””
Those words again.
I almost smiled.
Everyone in this family had become an expert at explaining things after they were discovered.
But Maya wasn’t everyone.
She was my daughter.
So I sat down.
“Then explain.””
Her eyes filled with tears.
“I changed the test request.””
I swallowed.
“Why?””
“Because I was scared.””
I looked away for a second.
Not because I was angry.
Because I was trying to keep my voice steady.
“Scared of what?””
She took a deep breath.
“When Daniel found me, he told me things.””
“About Nicole?””
“About me.””
I waited.
“He told me that if he proved you weren’t my biological father, he could take me away.””
My chest tightened.
“He said that?””
“Yes.””
“He couldn’t just do that.””
“I didn’t know that.””
She looked down.
“I was fifteen, Dad.””
That sentence stopped me.
Because she was right.
She was fifteen.
A child who had been forced to think like an adult.
“What did you do?””
Maya wiped her eyes.
“I looked for answers.””
She opened her laptop.
“I found old documents. Court records. Messages.””
I looked at the screen.
There were folders.
Dates.
Names.
She had been investigating everything.
Alone.
“I found out Daniel had tried to get custody before.””
“Why didn’t you tell me?””
“Because I thought you would fight with Mom.””
“I would have.””
“I know.””
She looked at me.
“And I thought everyone would leave.””
That hurt.
Because underneath everything, every secret came from the same place.
Fear of losing someone.
“So you changed the DNA request.””
She nodded.
“I didn’t change the actual result.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“I changed the request so the results would go to me first.””
She looked embarrassed.
“I wanted to know the truth before anyone else used it against us.””
I thought about Ethan’s message.
The altered record.
The missing information.
“Ethan said you changed the original DNA record.””
Maya looked confused.
“No.””
A cold feeling moved through me.
“What do you mean?””
“I only changed the delivery information.””
She stood quickly.
“I never touched the medical records.””
My phone buzzed.
Another message from Ethan.
This time, an image.
A scanned document.
The alteration wasn’t on Maya’s request.
It was on the laboratory file.
And the signature underneath was different.
I stared.
Then I understood.
Someone had used Maya as a distraction.
Someone wanted us to blame her.
“Maya,” I said quietly.
“Yes?””
“I’m sorry.””
She looked surprised.
“For what?””
“For believing the worst for even a second.””
She shook her head.
“You had every reason.””
“No.””
I looked at her.
“I should have known you were trying to protect us.””
She started crying.
“I just wanted one person to tell me the truth.””
I pulled her into a hug.
“You should never have had to fight for that.””
A knock came at the door.
Nicole stood there.
Her face was pale.
“I heard.””
Maya stepped back.
For a moment, mother and daughter just looked at each other.
Then Nicole whispered:
“I’m sorry.””
Maya looked away.
“I know.””
Those two words carried years of pain.
Not forgiveness.
Not yet.
But recognition.
Nicole walked in.
“There’s something you both need to know.””
I looked at her.
“What now?””
She hesitated.
“I found out who changed the records.””
The room went silent.
“Who?””
Nicole looked at Maya.
Then at me.
May you like
And whispered:
“It was someone who knew exactly how to make us destroy each other.””
