Chapter 2: The Name on the Screen
Margaret didn't move from the patio floor.
The DNA report lay open beside her.
The laboratory seal caught the afternoon light.
Daniel pushed through the patio door first.
"What is going on out here?"
I turned to face him.
"Ask your mother.
Ask her why our five-year-old daughter was chained to a post while your family celebrated inside."
Daniel looked at Lily.
Then at Margaret.
Then at the report.
"What is that?"
"Proof," I said.
"Proof that Lily is yours.
Proof your mother has known for three months and said nothing."
Margaret finally spoke from the ground.
"That paper means nothing.
Labs make mistakes."
"Then why did you pay someone to make the first results disappear?"
The patio went completely silent.
Jessica stepped outside.
Her face had changed.
"Mom," she said quietly.
"What did you do?"
Margaret's eyes moved to Jessica.
Something passed between them — fast, sharp, and guilty.
That was when I understood.
Jessica already knew.
She had known the whole time.
I looked at my daughter still standing by the post, her small hands wrapped around my arm.
Then Daniel's phone rang.
He looked at the screen and went pale.
"It's Dad," he whispered.
But Daniel's father had been d3ad for two years.
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The truth behind that phone call changes everything.
Click the link below to read the full story — and find out what Margaret and Jessica have been hiding all along.
