CHAPTER 25
THE NAME THAT DID NOT BELONG TO HER
The DNA test took three days.
Three days of silence.
Three days in which Elena barely slept.
Nathaniel did not pressure her.
He didn't ask her to prepare for the worst.
He didn't tell her everything would be fine.
Because neither of them knew.
Lily continued her normal life.
She went to school.
She complained about vegetables.
She left crayons in Nathaniel's office.
She had no idea that the adults around her were examining the foundations of her entire identity.
On the fourth morning, Owen arrived.
He carried a sealed envelope.
Elena refused to let Nathaniel open it.
"I will."
Her hands shook.
She opened the report.
She read the first page.
Then the second.
Her face became blank.
Nathaniel stood.
"Elena?"
She looked at him.
"She's mine."
He released a breath.
"Lily is your biological daughter."
Elena almost laughed.
"Of course she is."
"But—"
"Don't."
Nathaniel stopped.
Elena looked back at the report.
"She is mine."
"Yes."
"No matter what some missing record says."
"Yes."
She closed her eyes.
Then Owen spoke.
"The second result is more complicated."
Nathaniel turned.
"What second result?"
Owen looked at him.
"Lily is not related to you."
Nathaniel frowned.
"We already knew that."
"No."
Owen placed a second report on the table.
"Lily is not related to you genetically."
"Yes."
"But the blood samples from the original hospital record show that the child listed as June Whitfield was not genetically related to you either."
Nathaniel went still.
Elena stared at him.
"What are you saying?"
May you like
Owen spoke carefully.
"June may not have been your biological daughter."
