Chapter 10 - The Woman in the VideoNobody spoke.
My mother's face stared back at us.
Older.
Tired.
Afraid.
She said:
"Noah, I don't know when you'll watch this."
Her hands were trembling.
"But if you're seeing it, then Martin is dead."
I felt my throat close.
"The man you believe is the girls' father is not their biological father."
Ava covered her mouth.
Claire looked at June.
My mother continued.
"Your brother agreed to protect their mother."
"That's all."
I froze.
"Then who is their father?"
My mother didn't answer immediately.
Instead, she looked away.
"There were people in the hospital who wanted the girls."
"They believed one of the babies carried a unique genetic mutation."
"They were wrong."
I frowned.
"Then why did they keep chasing them?"
My mother whispered:
"Because they didn't know that."
The video changed.
A document appeared.
Three genetic profiles.
Then a fourth.
I stared.
The three girls were biologically related to their mother.
But their father wasn't Martin.
Not biologically.
Then I saw the father's profile.
The name had been redacted.
Except for the initials.
N.B.
Noah Bennett.
My own name.
I stopped breathing.
"That's impossible."
Daniel stood up.
"Noah..."
"Don't."
He looked at the screen.
"The records may have been altered."
"No."
I stared at my mother's face.
I had never been their biological father.
I knew that.
But the document said something else.
DNA donor: Noah Bennett.
My mother had secretly collected my DNA twenty-two years ago.
Why?
The video continued.
"The girls were conceived through an experimental fertility procedure."
My skin crawled.
"Their mother asked me to help."
"What?"
My mother explained that their mother had suffered multiple miscarriages.
She wanted children.
The hospital offered a treatment.
But the treatment used an unauthorized donor program.
My mother discovered the truth too late.
"Noah, you donated blood for a routine test when you were twenty-two."
She looked directly into the camera.
"The hospital retained your genetic material."
I couldn't speak.
They had used my DNA without permission.
The girls were biologically connected to me.
Not as an uncle.
As their biological father.
I looked at Ava.
Claire.
June.
All the years came crashing down.
I had never known.
They had never known.
Then June whispered:
"So Dad really is Dad."
I broke.
I covered my face.
For twenty-two years, I had called them my nieces.
They had called me Uncle.
Then we slowly changed those words.
Dad.
Daughter.
Family.
And now I learned the truth had been hidden underneath every one of them.
But there was something else.
My mother's final sentence.
"Their mother didn't trust the hospital."
"She trusted Noah."
"But there was one mistake."
The video froze.
A new file opened.
BIOLOGICAL FATHER CONFIRMED.
My name.
Then another name underneath.
BIOLOGICAL MOTHER: SARAH COLLINS.
Their mother.
Then:
CHILDREN: TWO CONFIRMED. ONE DISPUTED.
I stared.
Two confirmed.
One disputed.
June stood slowly.
"No."
Ava started crying.
Claire looked at me.
"Dad..."
June shook her head.
"No."
I looked at the screen.
A final document appeared.
JUNE COLLINS: DNA MATCH INCONSISTENT.
May you like
My heart stopped.
One of my daughters wasn't biologically related to me.
