Chapter 12: The Name On The Second DNA Test
I couldn’t speak.
The room around me disappeared.
Victoria.
My mother.
The old photographs.
Everything blurred.
“Daniel,” I said slowly, “what does that mean?””
His breathing was heavy.
“It means the DNA report was designed to make you believe the wrong thing.””
I looked down at the paper.
The numbers.
The signatures.
The results.
All of it.
A lie?
“How do you know?””
“Because I found the original.””
My heart started pounding.
“Where?””
“Your father’s private records.””
I looked at Victoria.
Then my mother.
Everyone had a piece of the puzzle.
Everyone except me.
“Read it to me.””
Daniel was silent for a moment.
Then he said:
“The original test compared your DNA with your father’s.””
I waited.
“And?””
“Match confirmed.””
I closed my eyes.
A wave of emotion hit me.
My father was my father.
Not by choice.
Not only by love.
By blood.
I almost collapsed from relief.
But then Daniel continued.
“There was another name on the document.””
My eyes opened.
“Whose?””
He didn’t answer immediately.
“Marcus, you need to prepare yourself.””
I looked at my mother.
She looked terrified.
“Whose DNA was tested?””
Daniel said:
“Thomas Reed.””
My body went still.
“My biological father?””
“Yes.””
“But why?””
Another pause.
“Because your father was trying to prove Thomas wasn’t just your biological father.””
I frowned.
“What?””
“He was trying to prove Thomas was connected to the money theft.””
The room went silent.
I looked at my mother.
She looked broken.
Victoria looked shocked.
For the first time, she looked like someone who didn’t know the answer.
“Impossible,” Victoria whispered.
I turned toward her.
“You knew?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
That was the first time I believed her.
Daniel continued.
“Marcus, there’s more.””
Of course there was.
There was always more.
“The person who requested the original DNA test wasn’t your father.””
My stomach tightened.
“Who was it?””
Daniel said:
“Your mother.””
I looked at Evelyn.
She immediately shook her head.
“No.””
“Mom?””
“I never did that.””
Daniel said something quietly.
Something that made the room freeze.
“Because someone used your mother’s identity.””
Victoria stepped forward.
“Who?””
Daniel answered:
“We don’t know.””
I looked around.
A fake DNA test.
A stolen identity.
A hidden investigation.
Someone had been moving pieces around for years.
Then I noticed something.
The notebook in Victoria’s hand.
The one with my father’s handwriting.
“Give me that.””
Victoria hesitated.
“Why?””
“Because my father wrote it.””
She handed it over.
I opened the pages.
Most were notes.
Names.
Dates.
Financial records.
Then one sentence caught my attention.
Written near the end.
*If anyone tries to convince Marcus that his family is the enemy, they are protecting the real person responsible.*
My heart raced.
Underneath was another line.
*The person who started this was not after my money. They were after my son.*
I looked up.
“Someone was after me.””
Nobody answered.
Then my phone buzzed.
A message.
From an unknown number.
A photo appeared.
It showed me.
At my father’s funeral.
I was young.
Standing beside my mother.
But someone had circled a person in the background.
A person watching me.
The message below said:
*You have been searching for the wrong enemy.*
Another message appeared.
*Ask Daniel why he disappeared after your father died.*
I slowly lowered the phone.
Everyone looked at me.
But I only looked at Daniel’s name on my screen.
Because suddenly I had a new question.
May you like
A question that terrified me more than any secret before.
Why had the man who claimed to protect my father vanished from my life for fifteen years? :::
