Chapter 6 - THE TRUTH WE WERE TERRIFIED TO KNOW
I couldn't breathe.
The room seemed to spin around me.
Nathan stood motionless, staring at the letter.
Neither of us spoke for several seconds.
Then I finally found my voice.
“No.”
It came out barely louder than a whisper.
“No, that can't be true.”
Nathan looked sick.
“I don't know if it is.”
I backed toward the door.
“You said you knew my mother.”
“I said I knew a woman named Hannah. I didn't connect her to you until now.”
I shook my head.
My mind was racing.
The night in his penthouse.
The money.
The strange coincidence of our meeting.
If the possibility he had raised was true, everything would become unbearable.
Nathan looked away.
“We need to find out.”
I pressed a hand against my mouth.
Dr. Reed stepped forward.
“You should both have some space.”
I nodded.
I couldn't bear to look at Nathan.
He turned to Marcus.
“Arrange an independent DNA test. No private laboratories connected to my companies.”
Marcus nodded.
“And until we know, I want Bella protected.”
I looked up sharply.
“I don't need you controlling my life.”
Nathan's face changed.
“You're right.”
He took a breath.
“I'll pay for independent legal counsel if you want it. You choose where you go and who you speak to.”
For once, he didn't sound like a mafia boss.
He sounded like a man terrified of what he might have done.
I left the hospital alone.
For the next forty-eight hours, I barely slept.
I stayed with my friend Sophie.
I cried.
I read my mother's letter again and again.
And I wondered why she had kept such a devastating secret.
When the laboratory called, my hands shook so badly I could barely hold my phone.
The results were ready.
I went to the clinic with Sophie beside me.
Nathan arrived separately.
We sat across from each other in a small consultation room.
The physician opened the report.
I held my breath.
Then she spoke.
“The testing excludes Mr. Drake as your biological father.”
My eyes filled with tears.
I covered my face.
Nathan closed his eyes.
The relief was immediate.
But it didn't erase the fear we'd experienced.
And it certainly didn't explain my mother's letter.
“Then why did she write that?” I whispered.
The physician handed me the report.
“That's something you'll have to investigate separately.”
Nathan looked toward Marcus.
“Find out why Hannah believed I might be Bella's father.”
But Marcus was already staring at his phone.
“Boss…”
Nathan frowned.
“What?”
Marcus turned the screen toward us.
A security photograph showed Julian Mercer entering a private office building in downtown Chicago.
Alive.
May you like
And beside him was a woman Nathan recognized immediately.
Victoria Drake.
