Chapter 6 - THE BLOOD TEST
For three hours, nobody spoke.
Lily slept in the guest room.
Noah sat beside her.
Gabriel stood by the window.
Ethan paced.
Catherine cried.
And I sat at the dining table staring at a DNA report that hadn't even been completed yet.
“Tell me everything,” I said.
Gabriel looked at me.
“I can't.”
“You can.”
“I don't remember.”
“You don't remember whether you have a daughter?”
“I remember my father telling me that a child had been born.”
I stared.
“When?”
“Seven years ago.”
“Exactly when Lily was born.”
He nodded.
“Why didn't you ask questions?”
“Because my father told me the mother had died.”
My blood went cold.
“What mother?”
“I never knew her name.”
I looked at Ethan.
“Was that you?”
“No.”
“Then who?”
Ethan shook his head.
“We don't know.”
Gabriel's face was pale.
“My father told me Lily was adopted.”
“By you?”
“No.”
“Then why does she call you Daddy?”
“Because I raised her for three years.”
I froze.
“What happened after that?”
“My father took her away.”
“Why?”
“I fought him.”
“And?”
“He threatened to destroy me.”
I looked at him.
“You let him.”
“I was twenty-nine.”
“You were a grown man.”
“I was trapped.”
I wanted to hate him.
But something in his voice stopped me.
He wasn't making excuses.
He was confessing.
A doctor arrived.
The DNA test was ready.
I opened the envelope.
My hands shook.
The first result.
Claire Morgan — biological mother.
I closed my eyes.
The second.
Noah Morgan — biological child.
Then Lily.
Lily Roth — biological child of Claire Morgan.
I started crying.
She was mine.
My daughter.
My baby.
My missing half.
Then the father's section.
I stared.
Gabriel Roth — biological father.
Silence.
Gabriel sat down.
He covered his face.
“I didn't know.”
I believed him.
Because he looked as shattered as I felt.
Ethan stared at the report.
“So that's why.”
“What?”
“The program.”
Gabriel looked up.
“My father used my DNA.”
I frowned.
“What?”
“Without my knowledge.”
Ethan nodded.
“Your father took a sample when you were younger.”
Gabriel looked sick.
“And used it to create an embryo.”
I couldn't breathe.
“You mean Lily was genetically created from you?”
“Yes.”
“And me?”
Ethan looked at me.
“You were the mother.”
I looked toward the hallway.
Lily was asleep.
My daughter.
Gabriel's daughter.
And somehow, the Roth family had stolen her from both of us.
Then the front door exploded.
Security shouted.
Gunfire erupted.
Gabriel grabbed me.
“Down!”
Ethan pulled Noah behind the sofa.
Catherine screamed.
The attackers stormed inside.
One man shouted:
“Take the children!”
I grabbed Lily.
Noah screamed.
Gabriel fired.
The lights shattered.
Smoke filled the room.
Then someone grabbed me from behind.
I fought.
A cloth covered my mouth.
The last thing I saw was Gabriel reaching toward me.
Then darkness.
---
I woke in a basement.
My wrists were tied.
Across the room sat my mother.
Eleanor.
She looked calm.
“You always were stubborn.”
I stared at her.
“Where are my children?”
“Safe.”
“Where?”
“You'll see.”
She smiled.
“You want to know why I gave Lily away?”
“Yes.”
“Because I was told to.”
“By whom?”
She leaned closer.
“Your father.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
She whispered:
“Your father isn't who you think he is.”
I froze.
“You mean Jonathan?”
“No.”
She smiled.
May you like
“Jonathan isn't your father either.”
---
