Chapter 3 - The room became silent.Nobody moved.
I could hear my own breathing.
Dad looked at me.
I looked at Ryan.
Then at the cameras.
"Ryan."
His name came out like a question.
He wouldn't meet my eyes.
Dad stepped toward him.
"You have ten seconds."
Ryan's throat moved.
"Emily and I had problems."
Dad's face remained emotionless.
"That isn't an answer."
Ryan looked at me.
"She had been acting strange."
I stared at him.
"You accused me of cheating."
"You disappeared for hours."
"I went to prenatal appointments."
"Without telling me."
"You were at work."
"You lied."
I couldn't believe he was still doing it.
Even now.
Even with cameras uncovered.
Even with my bruises exposed.
He was still twisting reality.
Dad's voice cut through the room.
"Enough."
Ryan stopped.
Dad looked at me.
"Did you ever sleep with another man?"
"No."
"Did Ryan have reason to believe that?"
I shook my head.
"No."
Dad turned back to Ryan.
"Then why did you question the child's paternity?"
Ryan's face tightened.
"My wife stopped being affectionate."
I laughed.
It was a small, broken sound.
"Because I was terrified of you."
Ryan's expression changed.
For the first time, his mask cracked.
Dad saw it.
"So you knew."
Ryan didn't respond.
Dad stepped closer.
"You knew she was afraid of you."
Ryan whispered:
"She misunderstood me."
One of Dad's men placed a tablet on the table.
"I found something."
The screen showed a deleted email.
The sender was Dr. Adrian Cole.
The recipient was Ryan.
The subject line read:
PATERNITY CONFIRMATION.
Dad opened it.
The message was short.
The unborn child was genetically related to Ryan.
But there was an attachment.
A second report.
Dad opened that one.
His face went still.
"What?" I asked.
He didn't answer.
He handed me the tablet.
I read the report.
The test had been performed twice.
The first sample indicated Ryan was the father.
The second sample was different.
The second sample indicated...
Someone else.
My hands began shaking.
Ryan grabbed the tablet.
Dad's man blocked him.
Ryan shouted:
"That's fake!"
The man looked at him.
"It came from your account."
Ryan's face turned pale.
Dad asked:
"Who is the second possible father?"
Nobody answered.
I stared at the screen.
There was only one identifying detail.
The DNA matched a man whose identity had been withheld under court order.
A code had been used instead.
M-17.
Dad looked at his men.
"Find M-17."
The older man nodded.
"We already did."
Dad looked up.
"Who?"
The man hesitated.
Then said:
"Your daughter knows him."
My stomach dropped.
"I do?"
The man turned toward me.
"You met him before your marriage."
I shook my head.
"No."
Dad looked confused.
The man pulled out another photograph.
It was from a charity gala three years earlier.
I was standing beside a young man.
I barely recognized him.
But I recognized the suit.
The black tie.
The scar above his eyebrow.
And most importantly...
I remembered the face.
I whispered his name.
"Luca."
Dad's head snapped toward me.
"You know him."
I nodded slowly.
"Luca Moretti."
Everyone went silent.
Dad stared at the photograph.
"Impossible."
I looked at him.
"Why?"
He didn't answer.
The man beside him did.
"Because Luca Moretti died six years ago."
My heart stopped.
"No."
Dad took the photograph.
His face had gone pale.
"Luca was my nephew."
I stared.
"Your nephew?"
Dad nodded.
"He disappeared six years ago."
Ryan suddenly spoke.
"Then this is over."
Dad turned toward him.
"What?"
Ryan smiled.
For the first time, there was no fear in his expression.
There was something colder.
"Because Luca isn't dead."
Dad's face hardened.
Ryan looked directly at me.
"And your father has been searching for the wrong man."
He leaned closer.
"The man in those photographs isn't Luca."
I whispered:
"Then who is he?"
Ryan smiled.
May you like
And answered:
"The baby's real father."
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