Chapter 3 - THE DNA VERDICT
Twenty minutes felt like twenty years.
The mansion’s private library had been converted into a temporary medical suite. Dr. Harrison, Ethan’s personal family physician for over a decade, sat at a polished mahogany table with two sealed swab kits.
Ethan stood by the floor-to-ceiling windows, staring out at the foggy estate, his arms crossed tightly across his chest.
Rosa sat on a velvet sofa, holding Lily in her lap. The little girl had fallen asleep, her thumb tucked in her mouth, exhausted from the morning's trauma.
Natalie paced back and forth near the door like a caged animal, her phone clutched tightly in her hand. She was furiously typing messages under her breath.
“He’s doing a DNA test. If he finds out, everything is over. Activate Plan B now.”
Dr. Harrison stood up, holding a portable genetic sequencer that provided rapid 99.9% accurate bloodline verification within fifteen minutes using high-tech swab technology.
“Mr. Harmon,” Dr. Harrison said, his tone incredibly grave.
Ethan turned around slowly. “Speak.”
Dr. Harrison glanced at Rosa, then at Natalie, before looking directly at Ethan. “The genetic marker test is complete. The probability of paternity between you and the child, Lily Morales...”
Natalie took a sharp step forward. “It’s negative, right?! Tell him it’s zero!”
Dr. Harrison ignored her. “...is 99.998%. She is indisputably your biological daughter, Ethan.”
The room went dead silent.
Rosa closed her eyes, tears leaking through her eyelashes. She squeezed Lily gently, bracing herself for the storm she knew was coming.
Ethan didn't move. He didn't speak. He just stared at the sleeping little girl in the yellow duck socks. The child he had passed in the hallways for four years. The child who had eaten cold meals in the staff kitchen while he ate steaks in the dining room. His daughter.
A strange, overwhelming wave of emotion crashed over Ethan—a mixture of agonizing guilt, deep protectiveness, and a dark, dangerous rage.
“My daughter,” Ethan said, testing the word on his tongue for the first time.
Natalie’s face contorted into a mask of rage and desperation. “This is a setup! Rosa faked the test! She paid off the doctor! Ethan, listen to me, I am your fiancée! We are getting married in two months! You can’t let a maid ruined our future over some mistake from the past!”
Ethan walked slowly over to Natalie. He reached out, grabbed her left hand, and without a single word, pulled the 5-carat diamond ring off her finger.
Natalie gasped. “Ethan! What are you doing?!”
“Get out,” Ethan said quietly.
“What?!”
“Get out of my house,” Ethan repeated, his voice dangerously dark. “Before I have security throw you onto the street the exact same way you threw my daughter.”
“You can’t do this to me!” Natalie shrieked, lose her composure completely. “My father gave you the capital for your first tech merger! The Voss family owns twenty percent of Harmon Capital’s voting shares! If you break this engagement, my family will destroy you! We will crash your stock by nightfall!”
Ethan smiled—a cold, terrifying smile that made even Dr. Harrison step back.
“Try it,” Ethan whispered. “See what happens to the Voss family when I dedicate a billion dollars to burning your father’s legacy to the ground.”
He turned his back on her. “Security. Escort Miss Voss off the property. She has five minutes to gather her personal clothing. Anything else stays.”
Two massive security guards stepped into the library, grabbing Natalie by her silk arms.
“Ethan! You’ll regret this!” Natalie screamed, kicking and squirming as she was dragged down the hallway. “You hear me?! You haven't seen the last of me! That maid is hiding things from you! Ask her about four years ago! Ask her why she stayed in this house!”
Her screams faded as the heavy oak doors slammed shut behind her.
Ethan stood in the quiet room. He slowly turned toward Rosa.
Rosa looked up at him, her eyes filled with fear. “Mr. Harmon… I swear, I never meant to deceive you. I didn't know who you were that night. I was just a hotel temp…”
Ethan walked over, dropped to his knees in front of her sofa, and looked into Rosa’s eyes.
“You knew,” Ethan said softly. “When you got hired here four years ago… you realized I was the man from the hotel.”
Rosa lowered her head, a tear falling onto Lily’s curls. “I realized it on my first day. But I saw the news. I saw how rich, how powerful you were. I was terrified you would take her away from me. I couldn't lose my baby, Ethan. She’s all I have.”
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Ethan reached out and gently took Rosa’s trembling hand in his.
“She’s not all you have anymore,” Ethan said, his voice softer than anyone had ever heard it. “And nobody is taking her away from either of us.”
