Chapter 8 - THE FATHER WHO LEFT TWO FAMILIES BEHIND
The DNA result changed everything.
At least, that's what I thought.
Until Rebecca explained that the original comparison required further confirmation because the laboratory had used an incomplete sample and some records had been mishandled.
"We need fresh, properly collected samples," she said.
Leo nodded.
"Then arrange it."
I sat motionless.
Half-siblings.
The word echoed through my mind.
My mother had never told me.
Leo's father had never mentioned me.
And now someone had forged documents to investigate a connection neither of us understood.
"What if it's true?" I whispered.
Leo looked at me.
"Then we find out why."
I stared at him.
"You're awfully calm."
He gave a humorless laugh.
"I'm not."
For the first time, I noticed how tired he looked.
The dark circles beneath his eyes.
The careful way he moved because his wound still hurt.
The loneliness hiding behind all that power.
I looked away.
Because I understood loneliness.
Too well.
Three days later, the new samples were collected.
The lab explained that results would require careful comparison.
Meanwhile, Rebecca continued investigating Anna's past.
She found records showing my mother had worked briefly for a Caruso-owned foundation before I was born.
There were photographs.
Old payroll documents.
And a letter written by Leo's father.
The letter had been sent to Anna shortly after my birth.
You cannot keep hiding the child. She deserves to know where she comes from.
My hands trembled.
I looked at Leo.
"Your father wrote this."
He nodded slowly.
"But why?"
We searched the remaining documents.
Then found a second letter.
This one was from Anna.
I will not allow Clara to grow up inside the world that destroyed my brother.
I stopped breathing.
"Her brother?"
Leo leaned closer.
The next sentence made his face change.
Daniel died because he refused to work for Rourke.
I stared at the page.
Daniel Caruso.
The missing relative Leo had mentioned.
My mother's brother.
But the dates didn't fit the story we'd been told.
Daniel hadn't simply disappeared.
He'd been killed.
And Anna had fled to protect me.
I turned toward Leo.
"Your father knew."
His expression darkened.
"He knew something."
"And he kept it from you."
Leo looked down.
"Yes."
For several seconds, neither of us spoke.
Then Rebecca entered with another document.
The original birth record.
Mine.
Mother: Anna Caruso.
Father: Michael Hayes.
I stared.
Michael Hayes.
The father who'd abandoned us.
The man I'd spent years trying to forget.
But beneath his name was a handwritten note.
Paternity disputed. See sealed court record.
My heart pounded.
Rebecca looked at me.
"Clara, your mother filed a legal challenge before you turned one."
"What kind?"
"A petition to correct the identity of your father."
I swallowed.
"Who was the other man?"
Rebecca opened the sealed record.
The name printed across the final page was one I'd never expected.
May you like
Salvatore Caruso.
Leo's father.
