Chapter 3: The Secret That Stopped the Wedding
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Emily pressed both hands over her mouth.
Daniel took the report from me and pointed to a line near the bottom.
“It says there is a 99.8 percent probability that Emily and I are half siblings.”
I caught the wall with one hand.
“No.
Richard was Emily’s father.”
“Mom, I know.”
“And Daniel’s father was Thomas.”
Daniel looked toward the phone still lying on the floor.
“That’s what we believed.”
His mother’s voice came through the speaker again.
“Daniel, hang up immediately.”
I picked up the phone.
“No, Patricia.
You are going to explain what you meant.”
There was a long pause.
“Some truths should remain private.”
“You claimed something happened between you and my husband.”
“Put Daniel back on.”
“Richard cannot defend himself now.
You will speak to me.”
Emily reached for my arm.
“Mom, sit down.”
“I don’t want to sit down.
I want Patricia to tell me whether she had an affair with your father.”
Patricia exhaled sharply.
“It happened once, twenty-six years ago.
Richard was lonely, and your marriage was already failing.”
“My marriage was not failing.”
“That is what he told you.”
Daniel snatched up the phone.
“You told me Dad was my father.”
“Thomas raised you.
That should be enough.”
“You let me fall in love with my own sister!”
“I stopped the wedding, didn’t I?”
Emily recoiled as though Patricia had pushed her.
“You sent me this report four days before I was supposed to marry him.”
“I protected both of you.”
“You destroyed us,” Daniel said.
Patricia’s voice hardened.
“Bring me the report.
There is no reason to humiliate both families.”
The call ended.
I looked down at Richard’s name printed beside the words “alleged biological father.” My hands began to shake.
“Why was this inside the dress?”
Emily wiped her cheeks.
“I found the envelope during my final fitting.
I panicked and hid it in the lining when you came into the room.”
“You had it before you canceled?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you show me?”
“Because Dad had been gone five years, and I thought this would destroy everything you believed about him.”
I stepped away from her.
“So you let me blame you instead.”
“You were talking about the money.
I couldn’t make myself say it.”
Daniel unfolded a second sheet.
“Last week, I called the laboratory.
They said the number on this report doesn’t exist.”
I stared at him.
“What?”
“The logo is theirs, but the case number is false.
That’s why we came back for the original.”
Emily pointed to a barcode along the edge.
“We need to know who printed it and who put it in my dress.”
A car door slammed outside.
Daniel moved to the window.
“She followed me.”
Patricia marched up the path carrying a leather folder.
Before I could lock the door, she pushed it open with her shoulder.
“Give me that report.”
I held it behind my back.
“The laboratory says it’s fake.”
For the first time, Patricia’s expression slipped.
Then she placed her folder on my table and smiled.
May you like
“That is because you called the wrong laboratory.
I brought the real report.”
