Chapter 3 - The Hidden CameraWe returned home late that evening. Savannah went straight to our bedroom to rest, her movements stiff and cautious. I walked into the kitchen, my hands shaking as I poured a glass of water.
A sharp knock echoed through the house.
I froze. Bernice.
I yanked the front door open. My mother stood on the porch, her face twisted into an expression of profound betrayal. Without waiting for an invitation, she pushed past me and marched into the living room.
"How could you take her side over mine?" Bernice hissed, crossing her arms. "I raised you single-handed! I sacrificed everything for you! And now you bring home some stranger who is manipulating you into cutting off your own mother?"
"You put your hands on my pregnant wife, Mom," I said, stepping between her and the hallway leading to our bedroom. "You threatened her. And you ordered a fake paternity test behind my back."
Bernice’s eyes flashed with a manic intensity. "It’s not fake! And you’re a fool if you think that child has your blood! She’s playing you, Christopher. Just like her mother did to your father!"
"Don't you dare bring her family into this," I shouted, losing my temper for the first time. "Get out. If you ever step foot on this property again, I’m calling the police and slapping you with a restraining order."
Bernice glared at me, her lips curling into a cold, venomous smile. "You think you know everything, don't you, Christopher? You think I'm the villain. But you have no idea what secrets are buried in this family. Check your email."
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With that, she turned on her heel and marched out into the night.
My phone buzzed in my pocket a second later. An email from an unknown sender. I unlocked it with a trembling thumb. Inside was a scanned document dated twenty-eight years ago—an adoption decree bearing my name, and a birth certificate listing parents I had never known.
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