CHAPTER 5 – The DNA That Changed Everything
The ballroom had emptied.
Police lights painted the walls in flashes of blue and red.
The body of the fake priest had barely been covered when the lead investigator unfolded another envelope hidden beneath his jacket.
"This wasn't in his pocket," the investigator said quietly.
"It was sewn inside his coat."
Jonathan Carter slowly opened the envelope.
Inside...
There was only a DNA report.
His hands immediately began to tremble.
Ethan looked over his shoulder.
"What is it?"
Jonathan couldn't answer.
The investigator read the final line aloud.
"Probability of biological relationship: 99.999%."
Silence.
Everyone stared.
Victoria whispered,
"Related to... who?"
Jonathan slowly looked at Ethan, tears filling his eyes.
"I've lied to you your entire life."
Ethan frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Jonathan took a shaky breath.
"I wasn't your grandfather..."
"I wasn't your guardian..."
"I wasn't even your father's friend."
The room froze.
Jonathan held up the DNA report.
"I'm your father."
The words hit Ethan like a train.
"No..."
Jonathan nodded.
"The night our mansion burned, I hid you with another family."
"I let the world believe my own son had died."
"I watched you grow up from a distance because every person connected to me was being hunted."
Victoria covered her mouth in disbelief.
"So Ethan..."
"...you were never an orphan."
Jonathan whispered,
"I abandoned my own son..."
"...to keep him alive."
Ethan's entire world collapsed.
Every memory.
Every childhood.
Every lie.
Nothing was real anymore.
Then the lead investigator interrupted.
"I'm afraid that's not the biggest secret."
He placed another photograph on the table.
It showed Jonathan...
Standing beside a woman no one recognized.
Between them stood a newborn baby.
The date was twenty-six years ago.
One year AFTER Ethan had supposedly been hidden away.
Jonathan's face turned white.
"No..."
He whispered.
"That's impossible."
The investigator looked directly into Ethan's eyes.
May you like
"It appears..."
"...you may not be the only heir."
