CHAPTER 2 — "The DNA Test Was Fake... But the Truth Was Even Worse."
Emily couldn't breathe.
The DNA report slipped from her trembling fingers and landed on the marble floor.
"No..." she whispered. "This can't be real."
Victoria folded her arms with a smug smile.
"I told you," she said. "He's never been your father."
The hospital room fell silent.
Even the heart monitor seemed louder.
Emily slowly turned toward the old man lying in the bed.
His eyes were filled with pain.
"I am your father," he whispered. "But not according to the paper she's holding."
Emily's voice shook.
"Then explain it!"
Victoria laughed.
"Go ahead."
"Tell her how every laboratory in the state confirmed the results."
"Tell her she's been chasing a lie her entire life."
The old man coughed violently.
Then he reached beneath his pillow and pulled out a small silver key.
"Open the safe."
Emily frowned.
"What safe?"
"My office... Building Seven... Floor Forty-Two."
Victoria's confident smile disappeared.
"You burned that office years ago!" she shouted.
The old man smiled for the first time.
"You burned the wrong one."
Victoria's face turned white.
Emily noticed it immediately.
For the first time...
Victoria looked afraid.
The old man continued.
"I knew someone would come for the evidence."
"So I built another office."
"And only one person knows where it is."
He pressed the silver key into Emily's hand.
"It belongs to you now."
Victoria suddenly lunged forward.
"Give me that key!"
She grabbed Emily's wrist.
The two women struggled as security rushed toward them.
The key slipped from Emily's hand...
...and slid across the polished floor.
Victoria dived for it.
But an elderly nurse stepped on it first.
"I think this belongs to Miss Carter," she said calmly.
Victoria's eyes burned with rage.
"You have no idea what you're protecting."
The old man looked directly at Emily.
"Inside that safe..."
"...is every original DNA sample."
"Every surveillance recording."
"Every payment."
"And the name of the person who ordered your identity to be erased."
Emily froze.
"You mean... someone planned this?"
"For twenty-three years."
He nodded.
"They didn't just steal your father."
"They stole your name..."
"...your inheritance..."
"...your future."
Emily's knees almost gave out.
Everything she believed...
Every painful memory...
Every lonely birthday...
Every unanswered letter...
Had been carefully engineered.
Not by fate.
By someone who wanted her life.
Just then...
Victoria's phone rang.
She glanced at the screen...
...and suddenly all the color drained from her face.
"No..."
She whispered.
"That's impossible."
Without another word, she turned and ran out of the hospital.
Emily stared after her.
"What happened?"
The old man closed his eyes.
"If she's running..."
"...it means someone else found the safe first."
Emily's heart stopped.
"Who?"
The old man answered with his final ounce of strength.
"The person..."
"...who has been pretending to be you."
END OF CHAPTER 2
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Scroll down to the comments for Chapter 3. The biggest betrayal is still to come.
