Chapter 3 - The DNA Test and the ConfrontationAlex didn't go home that night. He spent the evening at a private medical clinic, bringing Liam and Ethan in under the cover of a routine health check he personally paid Mrs. Thompson to permit. He took saliva swabs from both boys himself, paying an exorbitant fee to rush the DNA test results within twenty-four hours.
The boys were quiet, terrified of the sterile white room.
"Are you going to take us to an orphanage?" twelve-year-old Liam asked fiercely, standing defensively in front of little Ethan. "We don't need your money, mister. We have Mrs. Thompson."
Alex choked back tears, kneeling down so he was at eye level with them. "I'm not sending you anywhere. I'm... I'm here to fix a mistake. A terrible mistake."
By 8:00 AM the following morning, the PDF document landed in Alex’s private email.
PATERNITY TEST RESULT: Probability of Paternity for Subject A (Liam Smith): 99.99% Probability of Paternity for Subject B (Ethan Smith): 99.99%
Equipped with the DNA results and the sealed legal files, Alex drove back to his Vaucluse mansion. Sunlight poured over the pristine marble floors and manicured gardens. Bridget was sitting on the terrace, sipping herbal tea, reading a interior design magazine while Finn played video games in the living room.
Alex walked out onto the terrace and threw the folder onto the glass table, shattering a crystal tea saucer.
Bridget jumped, startled. "Alex! What on earth is wrong with you?"
"Read it," Alex growled, his voice dangerously low.
Bridget looked at the document, her expression shifting from irritation to cold calculation in a fraction of a second. The delicate, loving wife facade vanished, replaced by the sharp, protective corporate heiress she truly was.
"So, you found them," she said calmly, setting her teacup down. "I wondered how long it would take after Finn saw them in the park."
"You knew?" Alex shouted. "You signed off on burying Valerie's plea! You let my sons rot in poverty while you raised Finn in a palace!"
"I protected our family!" Bridget snapped, standing up to face him. "Valerie was a distraction! If that scandal had broken back then, Peterson Tech would have lost its funding, your father would have gone bankrupt, and Finn wouldn't have the life he has today! I saved this family!"
"You ruined three lives to save a stock price!" Alex yelled.
From the hallway, a soft gasp made both of them freeze.
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Finn stood by the sliding glass doors, his young face pale, holding a toy truck that slipped from his fingers and clattered onto the tile floor.
"Dad?" Finn whispered, tears pooling in his eyes. "Are those boys... my brothers?"
