CHAPTER 2 — The DNA Test No One Was Supposed to See
Victoria insisted Lily had simply been confused.
"She's only five," she laughed nervously. "Children imagine things."
But Ethan couldn't let it go.
That single sentence echoed inside his mind all night.
"Mommy said I'm never supposed to tell you where I came from."
At dawn, he quietly collected a strand of Lily's hair from her pillow.
He didn't tell anyone.
Not even his lawyer.
Not even his closest friend.
Forty-eight hours later, the confidential DNA report arrived.
His hands trembled as he opened the envelope.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%.
Lily was his biological daughter.
His knees nearly gave out.
That was impossible.
Victoria had always told him she had suffered a miscarriage six years ago while he was overseas negotiating a billion-dollar merger.
He had mourned that child.
He had visited an empty grave every year.
He had blamed himself for choosing work over family.
Now the truth stood in black ink.
His daughter had never died.
She had been alive this whole time.
When Ethan confronted Victoria, she burst into tears.
"I did it to protect her!"
"Protect her from what?"
Before she could answer...
The front door exploded open.
Three federal investigators entered the penthouse.
"Mr. Carter?"
"We need to ask your wife several questions regarding identity fraud, illegal adoption records, and a missing child investigation that was closed six years ago."
Victoria's face turned white.
Lily ran toward Ethan, crying.
"Daddy... don't let them take Mommy."
One investigator slowly placed a thick file onto the marble table.
Inside were dozens of photographs.
Hospital records.
Birth certificates.
Security footage.
And one picture made Ethan's blood run cold.
A young nurse carrying newborn Lily...
Walking beside Ethan's own father.
The man who had died four years earlier.
Ethan looked up in disbelief.
"What does my father have to do with any of this?"
The investigator answered quietly,
"Everything."
Because this wasn't Victoria's secret anymore.
It was a conspiracy your entire family helped bury.
May you like
And the person who planned it...
May still be alive.
