Chapter 6 - The Wrong Child
Mark looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath him.
“That makes no sense.”
Margaret folded her arms.
“It makes perfect sense.”
Daniel grabbed the old laboratory report.
“This test compared my DNA with Noah’s?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I needed a child who was not biologically yours.”
Mark stepped toward his mother.
“Noah is my son.”
Margaret looked at Jessica.
Jessica stopped crying.
That tiny reaction was enough.
Mark saw it.
I saw it.
Daniel saw it.
Margaret smiled.
“Are you certain?”
Jessica backed against the bookshelf.
“Don’t.”
Mark turned toward her.
“What is she talking about?”
“Mark…”
“What is she talking about?”
Jessica covered her mouth.
Margaret answered.
“Noah isn’t yours.”
Mark didn’t move.
His face simply emptied.
Jessica rushed toward him.
“That isn’t how this should come out.”
He stepped away from her.
“Is he mine?”
Jessica stared at him.
Her silence became the answer.
Mark sat down.
No one spoke for several seconds.
Even Margaret seemed to realize she had gone too far.
“What happened?” I asked quietly.
Jessica shook her head.
“It was one night.”
Mark laughed bitterly.
“It always is.”
“We were separated.”
“For eleven days.”
“You told me you wanted a divorce.”
“I came home.”
“I know.”
“You told me Noah was premature.”
Jessica’s tears fell faster.
“He wasn’t.”
Daniel lowered himself into the chair beside his brother.
For once, there was no rivalry between them.
No family hierarchy.
Just two men realizing that the people closest to them had manipulated the truth about their children.
Mark looked at Margaret.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“Jessica told me.”
“When?”
“Before Noah was born.”
Mark stared at his wife.
“You told my mother before you told me?”
Jessica whispered.
“She promised to help.”
Margaret interrupted.
“And I did.”
Mark looked at her.
“You protected a lie for seven years.”
“To protect you.”
“Stop saying that.”
His voice shook.
“Every horrible thing you do is supposedly to protect somebody.”
Lily suddenly slipped her hand into mine.
“Mommy, can we leave?”
I looked down at her.
She had heard enough.
Too much.
I picked her up.
Daniel stood.
“I’m coming.”
I shook my head.
“No.”
“Emily.”
“She needs safety.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“Yes.”
I looked directly at him.
“And today you finally learned what that means.”
Daniel flinched.
I hated that part of me still cared.
But caring did not erase six months.
I carried Lily toward the front door.
Before leaving, Mark called my name.
I turned.
He held Richard’s trust in his hands.
“You need to take this.”
“Why?”
“Because if Mom has been trying to invalidate Lily’s paternity…”
He looked at the page.
“…then she’s probably already done something with Lily’s shares.”
Margaret went completely still.
I noticed.
So did Daniel.
Mark slowly looked up.
“What did you sell?”
May you like
Margaret said nothing.
And for the second time that day, silence gave us the answer.
