Chapter 7: The Blood Test
For three seconds, nobody moved.
Then Lily cried.
Her tiny face crumpled against my shoulder, as if she could feel the panic spreading through the room.
I held her tighter.
"She's not Daniel's daughter?""
My father's eyes stayed on mine.
"No.""
Daniel stood so quickly that his chair struck the floor.
"You're lying.""
My father didn't blink.
"I tested the child myself.""
Daniel looked at him.
"You tested my daughter?""
"She isn't your daughter.""
Daniel's face twisted.
"Get out.""
"Dad," I whispered.
He looked at me.
"I need proof.""
"I have it.""
"Not from you.""
My father nodded.
"Then get another test.""
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Of course. That's convenient.""
I turned toward him.
"Are you saying Lily is yours?""
His expression cracked.
"I don't know.""
The answer hurt more than anything else.
I walked toward the stairs.
"Mara," Daniel said.
I stopped.
He lowered his voice.
"Who is Lily's father?""
I turned.
"I don't know.""
His face changed.
"You don't know?""
"No.""
"How can you not know?""
I stared at him.
"Because you were my husband.""
He went silent.
The words hung between us.
For the first time, I saw the full weight of what he had done.
He had spent months making me question my body, my memory, my sanity.
Now he was questioning the child I had carried.
I took Lily upstairs.
I locked the bedroom door.
My hands shook so badly I could barely operate my phone.
I called my OB's office.
The nurse answered.
"Dr. Patel's office.""
"This is Mara Hayes. I need Lily's blood type.""
There was a pause.
"I'm sorry?""
"My daughter's medical records. I need her blood type.""
"One moment.""
I waited.
Lily whimpered against my chest.
Then the nurse returned.
"She's O negative.""
I closed my eyes.
Daniel was AB positive.
I was A positive.
My daughter couldn't have been his biological child.
Not genetically.
Not even remotely.
I sat on the edge of the bed.
There was another possibility.
Someone else.
Someone whose identity I had buried so deeply that I had never allowed myself to consider him.
The man who had been Daniel's closest friend before everything changed.
Ethan.
I hadn't seen him in nearly a year.
But I remembered the last time.
He had come to our house after Daniel's company Christmas party.
Daniel had been furious.
I'd assumed it was because Ethan had criticized one of Daniel's business decisions.
But now I remembered Ethan's face when he looked at me.
The strange sadness in his eyes.
The sentence he'd said before leaving.
"If you ever need help, Mara, call me. Even if Daniel tells you not to.""
I had never called.
My phone rang.
Daniel.
I didn't answer.
It rang again.
Then a text appeared.
*We need to talk about Lily.*
Another message followed.
*Please don't let your father manipulate you.*
I stared at it.
Then another arrived.
*I never knew she wasn't mine.*
That one stopped me.
Because I believed him.
Whatever Daniel had done, he had genuinely loved Lily.
Maybe badly.
Maybe selfishly.
But I'd seen him hold her.
I'd seen him cry when she smiled.
He had whispered to her when he thought I was asleep.
"You're my little girl.""
That memory hurt.
I opened the door.
Daniel was standing outside.
His face was wet.
"I didn't know," he said.
I didn't answer.
"I swear to God, Mara, I didn't know.""
"Who is her father?""
"I don't know.""
"Did you sleep with anyone besides Vanessa?""
"No.""
"Before Lily?""
He hesitated.
I stared at him.
"Daniel.""
"No.""
His answer was immediate.
"Then I don't understand.""
"Neither do I.""
My father came up the stairs.
"I do.""
Daniel turned.
"Stay out of this.""
My father held up a small envelope.
"The blood test isn't the important part.""
I took it.
"What is this?""
"Your daughter's DNA report.""
I opened it.
The first page listed Lily.
The second listed me.
The third listed a male sample.
I looked at the name.
There wasn't one.
Only a laboratory reference number.
"Why isn't there a name?""
"Because I didn't know who the father was.""
I looked at the percentages.
The report showed a biological relationship.
Not with Daniel.
With someone else.
Someone from the Hayes family.
I looked at Daniel.
His face had gone white.
"Who?""
My father answered.
"His brother.""
Daniel shook his head.
"I don't have a brother.""
My father looked at him.
"Yes, you do.""
I felt my stomach drop.
"Who?""
"His name was Michael.""
Daniel whispered,
"Michael died before I was born.""
My father nodded.
"That's what your father told everyone.""
Daniel stared.
"What are you saying?""
"I'm saying Michael didn't die.""
I looked at the DNA report again.
A relationship to Daniel's biological brother.
My hands went cold.
"Where is he?""
My father looked toward the window.
"He has been in this town for three months.""
Daniel whispered,
"Why?""
My father looked at me.
"Because he is Lily's father.""
The doorbell rang downstairs.
Nobody moved.
It rang again.
Daniel looked at me.
My father went down.
I followed.
A man stood on the porch.
He was tall.
Dark-haired.
His face was thinner than Daniel's.
But the eyes—
the eyes were the same.
Daniel stopped behind me.
The stranger looked at him.
"Hello, little brother.""
Daniel's lips parted.
"Michael?""
The man smiled sadly.
"That's what they called me.""
I looked at Lily.
She was staring at him.
And then she smiled.
Michael's expression broke.
"She's beautiful.""
Daniel stepped between us.
"Stay away from my family.""
Michael looked at him.
"Your family?""
Then he looked at me.
"Mara, there's something you need to know.""
"What?""
He glanced at my father.
"Your husband didn't choose Vanessa because he stopped loving you.""
Daniel's face tightened.
"Michael.""
"He chose her because he was trying to keep me from finding you.""
I stared.
"Why?""
Michael reached inside his coat.
He pulled out an old photograph.
In it, I saw my mother.
My father.
Michael.
And a baby.
The baby was me.
Written on the back were five words:
*The daughter must never know.*
Michael looked at me.
"Your mother knew I was Lily's father before Lily was born.""
I couldn't breathe.
"How?""
He lowered his eyes.
"Because I told her.""
May you like
Then he said the words that shattered everything Daniel had built.
"She was the one who asked me to stay away from you.""
