Chapter 9: The Second DNA Report
I agreed to meet Claire the following morning, but only under arrangements made through the appropriate professionals.
I wasn't going to meet her alone in a parking lot or allow her to turn another conversation into a private agreement that could later be denied.
By nine o'clock, Maya was resting in a quieter hospital room. The medical team had not yet discharged her, and her care plan remained under review.
Melissa arranged for the meeting to take place in a designated consultation room, with the relevant safeguarding professional available nearby.
Claire arrived wearing the gray coat I had bought her for our tenth anniversary.
Her hair was pulled back tightly, and the skin beneath her eyes looked bruised by exhaustion.
For the first time since the ER, she looked less like someone trying to control a situation and more like someone who had finally run out of ways to escape it.
She sat across from me.
“Daniel,” she whispered.
I didn't answer.
She looked at my hands.
“Are you going to say anything?””
“Yes. I'm going to ask you a question, and I want the truth.””
She swallowed.
“Okay.””
“Did you give Maya those pills?””
Claire's eyes filled with tears.
“Yes.””
The answer landed like a blow.
“What were they?””
“Some were medication I obtained from a private clinic. Others were supplements.””
“Did a doctor prescribe them for Maya?””
“No.””
“Did you know they could make her sick?””
“I didn't think—”
“That's not what I asked.””
She looked down.
“I knew there could be side effects.””
My hands began to shake.
“Then why did you give them to her?””
Claire pressed her palms together.
“Because she was telling people things about Adrian. She was asking questions. I was afraid she'd say something that would make him come after us.””
“Come after us how?””
“He threatened to take her. He said he'd use the paternity issue to force his way into her life.””
“So you drugged our daughter to keep her quiet?””
“I wasn't trying to hurt her!””
“But you knew she was getting sick.””
Claire began to cry.
“I thought I could manage it. I thought if I kept the doses small and made sure she slept, everything would be over before anyone noticed.””
I stared at her, horrified by the casual calculation behind her words.
“You watched her suffer.””
“I know.””
“You heard her asking to go to the hospital, and you told me she was exaggerating.””
“I was afraid.””
“So was Maya!””
Claire covered her face.
For several seconds, the only sound in the room was her crying.
I wanted to shout. I wanted to ask how she could have done this to the child we had raised together.
But the more I looked at her, the more I understood that I could not trust another emotional confession without evidence.
I waited until she lowered her hands.
“Tell me about Adrian.””
Claire took a shaky breath.
“I met him before I met you. We were together for a while, but the relationship ended badly. When I found out I was pregnant, I wasn't certain who the father was.””
I felt my stomach twist.
“Were you already seeing me?””
She nodded.
“How long had you been pregnant when we started dating?””
“About six weeks.””
I stared at her.
“You knew there was a possibility that Maya wasn't mine when you married me?””
“Yes.””
The word was barely audible.
“And you never told me.””
“I loved you.””
“You loved what I could give you.””
“That isn't fair!””
“Then tell me what is fair, Claire. I spent ten years believing we had built our family on the truth.””
She wiped her cheeks.
“Adrian wanted nothing to do with the pregnancy at first. He said he wasn't ready to be a father. Then your father found out about him.””
I leaned forward.
“How?””
“Your father hired someone to investigate my past after he learned Adrian had contacted me.””
“Why would he do that?””
“Because he was worried about you. He didn't want you marrying someone who might be hiding a serious secret.””
I felt a bitter laugh rise in my throat.
“So my father knew.””
“He suspected. He didn't know for certain.””
“What did he do?””
Claire stared at the table.
“He offered Adrian money to stay away. Adrian agreed at first. But when Maya was born, he changed his mind.””
“And the DNA test?””
“Your father arranged for a prenatal test. He wanted to know whether Adrian was the biological father before he made any final decisions.””
“Did you see the result?””
Claire nodded.
“What did it say?””
She looked at me.
“The result was inconclusive.””
I frowned.
“Inconclusive?””
“They couldn't establish paternity with the sample they had. Your father was furious. Adrian accused him of manipulating the process. They started arguing over money.””
I thought of the laboratory message, the missing records, and the payment marked as a maternity settlement.
“What happened to the original report?””
“I don't know.””
“Claire.””
“I'm telling you the truth!””
“You've admitted to hiding medication, manipulating a custody application, and keeping a paternity question from me for ten years. You'll have to understand why I need more than your word.””
She flinched.
Then she reached into her bag and placed a sealed envelope on the table.
“This is the second report.””
I didn't touch it.
“Where did you get it?””
“Adrian sent it to me three days ago.””
“Why?””
“He said he was going to take Maya whether I agreed or not. He told me he had proof that she was his biological daughter and that he would use the court to force a transfer of custody.””
“Did you verify the report?””
“No.””
“Then you don't know whether it's genuine.””
“I know what it says.””
She pushed the envelope toward me.
I looked at the label.
The laboratory name was different from the one on the first report. The document also listed a sample collection date from several years earlier.
It might have been legitimate.
It might have been fabricated.
I wasn't going to decide based on a piece of paper handed to me by a woman who had repeatedly lied.
“I want the report verified independently,” I said.
Claire nodded weakly.
“I expected that.””
“Why did you write that Maya had to be transferred before the original report became public?””
She closed her eyes.
“Because Adrian threatened to expose everything unless I cooperated.””
“Cooperated with what?””
“He wanted me to support his custody application. He said if I did, he'd give me money and leave me alone.””
I stared at her.
“So you planned to hand over our daughter in exchange for money?””
“No! I wanted him to stop threatening us.””
“You wrote that you would get money after the hearing.””
“I needed it!””
“For what?””
She looked away.
Then she admitted that she had accumulated debts over several years. She had taken out loans without telling me and had concealed the extent of the problem. Adrian had discovered the debts and used them to pressure her.
“How much do you owe?”” I asked.
She told me.
The sum was enormous.
I had thought we were financially comfortable. We had a mortgage, savings, and two steady incomes. I had never imagined that Claire had been borrowing money behind my back.
“Why didn't you tell me?””
“Because you would have wanted to control everything. You would have found out about Adrian, and then you would have left me.””
“So you decided to sacrifice Maya instead?””
Claire began crying again.
“I didn't think it would go this far.””
I stood.
“You don't get to use that excuse anymore.””
She reached for my hand.
“Daniel, please. I know I've done terrible things, but I need you to understand that I was trapped.””
I stepped away.
“You had choices. You could have told me. You could have gone to the police.
You could have asked for help. Instead, you gave our daughter pills and taught her to lie.””
Claire lowered her head.
I left the room before she could answer.
Outside, Melissa was waiting.
“Are you all right?””
“No,” I said.
“But I know more than I did yesterday.””
I told her about the confession, the debts, and the second DNA report. She documented what I reported and explained that the authorities would need to verify the report's authenticity and assess the allegations.
Then she said, “There's something you should know. Adrian's request for an immediate change in Maya's living arrangements has not been approved. Any decision about her care will depend on the appropriate legal and safeguarding process.””
I nodded.
“Good.””
I returned to Maya's room.
She was awake, drawing a picture on a sheet of paper. She had drawn a house with a red roof, a yellow sun, and two people standing in the garden.
One was tall.
The other was small.
Above the taller figure, she had written Daddy.
I sat beside her.
“That's a lovely picture.””
She smiled.
“It's our house.””
I looked at the drawing.
“Who's the other person?””
“Me.””
“Just us?””
She nodded.
“Can we stay like that for a little while?””
I felt tears rise in my eyes.
“Of course, sweetheart.””
She handed me the picture.
Then she asked, “Did you talk to Mommy?””
“Yes.””
“Is she angry with me?””
“No, Maya. Whatever she feels, this is not your fault.””
Maya studied my face.
“Did she tell you about Adrian?””
I nodded slowly.
“She told me some things.””
Maya put down her pencil.
“Daddy, I remember something else. When Mommy gave me the pills, she sometimes said I needed to be sleepy because I was going to have a test.””
My blood ran cold.
“What kind of test?””
“I don't know. She took me to a building where a lady put something inside my mouth with a little stick. Mommy said it was a game.””
I stared at her.
“When did that happen?””
“A few months ago.””
I called Melissa and explained what Maya had remembered. She arranged for the information to be documented and passed to the appropriate investigators.
If Maya had provided a sample for another paternity test, that could explain the newer report. But it still didn't establish who had arranged it, whether the sample had been collected properly, or whether the report was genuine.
Later that afternoon, an investigator contacted the hospital to request copies of the relevant records through the proper channels.
He also informed Melissa that Adrian Cole had submitted a formal application seeking recognition of his alleged biological relationship with Maya.
But the investigator had discovered something else.
The laboratory named on Adrian's report had denied receiving any sample under Maya's name on the date printed on the document.
The report was not yet proven to be fraudulent, but its provenance was now seriously in question.
I sat beside Maya's bed, staring at the photograph Adrian had sent me.
For ten years, Claire had hidden a paternity question behind money, fear, and lies.
Now someone was trying to use that question to take my daughter.
I thought of the sealed envelope, the altered records, and the note about transferring Maya before the truth became public.
Then my phone rang.
It was the investigator.
“Mr. Bennett, we've located the person who arranged the second test.””
“Who?””
“Your wife didn't arrange it.””
I sat upright.
“Then who did?””
The investigator paused.
“The request was submitted by someone using your father's identity. The signature appears to be genuine, but the date is two years after your father's death.””
I stared at the wall.
“That is impossible.””
“We're aware of that. We're investigating how the request was submitted.””
“Who signed it?””
“The name on the form is Peter Bennett.””
My father's name.
I felt the blood drain from my face.
Then the investigator added one final detail.
“The report doesn't identify Adrian Cole as Maya's biological father. It identifies a different man entirely.””
I gripped the phone.
“Who?””
“I can't give you the result over an unverified call. We'll arrange to share the documentation through the proper process.””
I closed my eyes.
For the first time, I wondered whether Adrian had been telling the truth about only one thing.
He might not be Maya's biological father.
But if the report was genuine, then the man who was could be someone I knew.
May you like
Someone whose name had been hidden from me for ten years.
And someone who had apparently been involved in the deception long after my father was dead.
