Chapter 5 - THE TESTThe next morning, Julian demanded another test.
I agreed.
Not because I trusted him.
Because I wanted the truth.
The results came two days later.
Julian sat across from Laura in a conference room.
I sat beside my father.
Nobody spoke while Laura opened the report.
Then she looked up.
“Julian is excluded.”
Julian stared at her.
“No.”
I closed my eyes.
Harrison was not his biological son.
Julian wasn't Harrison's father.
And suddenly a thousand small memories rearranged themselves.
The way Julian had complained that Harrison didn't resemble him.
The way he had joked that maybe the baby had “taken after the Marin side.”
The way he had once said he wasn't sure he wanted another child.
I looked at my father.
“Who?”
He didn't answer.
Laura placed another photograph on the table.
The same man.
I recognized him this time.
My father's former chief financial officer.
Daniel Hayes.
A man who had disappeared from our lives eight years ago.
I shook my head.
“No.”
My father nodded.
“He and your mother were close.”
My heart began pounding.
“What does that mean?”
“It means there is another chapter to your family history.”
Julian stood suddenly.
“You cheated on me?”
I looked at him.
“No.”
“You expect me to believe that?”
“Yes.”
He laughed.
“You're unbelievable.”
Laura stood.
“Sit down.”
He ignored her.
“You lied to me about your father.”
“Yes.”
“You hid a trust.”
“Yes.”
“You changed Harrison's name.”
“Yes.”
“And now you're telling me I'm not his father?”
“Yes.”
His face twisted.
“Then whose child is he?”
My father answered.
“Yours, in every way that matters.”
Julian looked at him.
“What does that mean?”
“Harrison was conceived during a period when Elena and Daniel were separated from each other.”
I felt sick.
My father continued.
“Daniel is the biological father.”
Julian stared at me.
“But Elena never cheated on you.”
He looked confused.
“What?”
My father said:
“Because you weren't married to her yet.”
Silence.
Julian's expression changed.
He had forgotten.
Before Julian.
Before Blackwood.
Before the mansion.
There had been someone else.
Daniel.
And Julian knew exactly who he was.
Because Julian had met him.
Years ago.
At Blackwood Holdings.
Julian turned toward Laura.
“Where is Daniel?”
She looked at my father.
My father answered.
“Dead.”
Julian exhaled.
Relief.
May you like
But then my father added:
“Officially.”
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