Chapter 10 - THE TEST RESULT DESTROYED THEIR PLAN
The result arrived Thursday morning.
Sophie called me first.
Not Julian.
She was crying.
“It's not him.”
I closed my eyes.
“Julian isn't the father?”
“No.”
The probability excluding Julian was conclusive.
David would still need separate testing to confirm his own paternity, but one thing was certain.
The baby was not Julian’s.
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
I expected relief.
I felt none.
The betrayal did not disappear because genetics changed.
Julian had still cheated.
Lied.
Planned.
Drained money.
Discussed using my infertility to trap me.
The only thing gone was the child he believed would accomplish it.
“What are you going to do?” I asked.
“Tell him.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
“Are you safe?”
Sophie became quiet.
“I'll do it with my attorney present.”
Good.
By noon, Julian knew.
At 12:14, he called me.
I watched the phone ring.
Once.
Twice.
Six times.
Then texts.
Claire, I need you.
Please answer.
Something terrible happened.
The irony almost made me sick.
At 1:03, Helga called.
At 1:20, Marta.
I answered none of them.
At 4:00, Julian came home.
I was waiting in the living room.
Not alone.
Rachel sat in the dining room with documents.
My overnight bag was beside the door.
Julian looked devastated.
“Sophie lied.”
I stared at him.
“No.”
He blinked.
“What?”
“She told you there was another possible father.”
His face changed.
“How do you know that?”
I stood.
Then, for the first time in ten years of marriage, I answered him in German.
“Because unlike you, she finally told me the truth.”
Julian went perfectly still.
I continued in fluent German.
“I understood the dinner conversation.”
His mouth opened.
“The one about the pregnancy.”
He backed up slightly.
“The refinance.”
His face drained.
“The plan to make me raise the baby.”
“Claire…”
“The plan to make me emotionally attached so I wouldn't leave you.”
He stared at me as if I had become a stranger.
Perhaps I had.
Then I switched back to English.
“Your mother was wrong.”
“About what?”
“You didn't need a baby to keep me.”
His eyes filled with hope.
I finished:
“You only needed not to betray me.”
Hope disappeared.
Rachel walked into the room.
She placed a petition on the table.
Julian looked down.
Divorce.
Temporary financial orders.
Formal disclosure request.
His hands began shaking.
Then I gave him one final document.
The refinance cancellation.
“The house money isn't coming.”
He stared.
I picked up my bag.
Behind me, Julian whispered:
“What am I supposed to tell my family?”
May you like
I opened the door.
“In whichever language you want.”
