Chapter 7 - THE TEST THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING
The DNA test wasn't performed in a ballroom.
It happened three days later at an accredited laboratory.
Ethan insisted on following the proper process.
Lucas agreed.
I brought Noah and Sophie.
Ethan arrived alone.
No bodyguards.
No photographers.
No assistants.
Just a man in a dark coat who looked more nervous than anyone I'd ever seen.
Sophie ran toward him.
Then stopped.
She looked at me.
I nodded.
She approached him carefully.
“Hi.”
Ethan smiled.
“Hi, Sophie.”
Noah stood beside me.
He adjusted his glasses.
“I've researched the testing process.”
Ethan raised an eyebrow.
“Have you?”
“Yes. It's pretty straightforward.”
Ethan smiled.
“I hope so.”
Noah looked at him.
“Are you nervous?”
Ethan nodded.
“Very.”
“Good,” Noah said. “That means you understand the stakes.”
I almost laughed.
Ethan did.
A real laugh.
Warm.
Surprised.
For one moment, I saw the young man I'd married.
The man who used to dance with me in our kitchen.
The man who once promised we'd have a house full of children.
Then the memory hurt too much.
I looked away.
The samples were collected.
The laboratory explained the process.
We left separately.
Ethan didn't ask to take the twins anywhere.
He didn't demand access.
He simply asked:
“May I call them sometime?”
I looked at the children.
Sophie nodded immediately.
Noah considered.
“Scheduled calls would be preferable.”
Ethan smiled.
“Then we'll schedule them.”
That evening, Ethan called at seven.
He asked about school.
Favorite subjects.
Hobbies.
Sophie told him she loved painting.
Noah explained his idea for a student-run investment club.
Ethan listened as though every word mattered.
When the call ended, Sophie looked at me.
“Mommy?”
“Yes?”
“He seems nice.”
I swallowed.
“He can be.”
She studied me.
“Does that make you sad?”
I smiled weakly.
“A little.”
Sophie hugged me.
“You can be sad and happy at the same time.”
I held her tightly.
Ten years earlier, I'd believed I needed to protect my children from their father.
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Now I was learning that protecting them might mean allowing them to discover the truth for themselves.
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