Chapter 1
The sound of the envelope hitting our coffee table was so loud that my newborn daughter startled in my arms.
"Tell me right now, Nia. Is that baby even mine?"
My husband, Marcus, stood over me, his face twisted with anger.
I stared at him, struggling to understand what I had just heard.
Three weeks.
Our daughter, Ava, had been alive for only three weeks.
And the man who had cried when she took her first breath was suddenly looking at her like she was a stranger.
"Marcus, what are you talking about?"
"Don't play stupid with me!"
He snatched the envelope off the table and waved it in my face.
"A DNA test, Nia. I have proof!"
My stomach tightened.
"A DNA test?"
"That's right. And apparently, I've been raising another man's child."
I looked down at Ava.
She was sleeping peacefully against my chest, completely unaware that her father was questioning whether she belonged to him.
Then I heard another voice.
"Make her prove it, Marcus."
My mother-in-law, Diane, stepped out from beside the staircase.
She was wearing a blue silk blouse and the same expression she always wore when she thought she'd finally caught me doing something wrong.
I looked between them.
"You both knew about this?"
Diane folded her arms.
"Of course we did. My son deserves the truth."
I felt something inside me crack.
"Marcus, you went behind my back and tested our baby?"
His jaw tightened.
"My mother had concerns."
I stared at him.
"Your mother?"
Diane stepped closer.
"Don't act surprised, Nia. That baby doesn't look anything like Marcus."
I almost laughed.
Not because anything was funny.
Because I couldn't believe what was happening.
Ava had Marcus's eyes.
His little dimple.
Even the same tiny crease between her eyebrows when she slept.
But apparently, none of that mattered.
"She's three weeks old!" I cried. "What exactly is she supposed to look like?"
Diane's lips curled.
"Don't raise your voice at me."
I looked at Marcus.
"Are you seriously allowing your mother to accuse me of cheating?"
He held up the paper.
"Then explain this!"
He dropped it onto my lap.
Across the top, in bold letters, were the words:
PATERNITY TEST RESULTS.
Below them was a number.
0.00%.
My hands started shaking.
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Then I looked up.
"This isn't possible."
Marcus gave a bitter laugh.
"Of course you'd say that."
"Because it isn't true!"
Diane stepped forward.
"She trapped you, Marcus. I warned you about her from the beginning."
I turned toward her.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me. You found yourself a successful man and made sure you got pregnant before he could realize what kind of woman you really are."
My eyes burned.
I had never asked Marcus for his money.
When we met, I was working two jobs and finishing nursing school.
I had paid my own tuition.
I had supported myself long before I ever knew him.
But Diane had spent four years pretending I was some desperate woman who had married her son for his bank account.
And now she was using my newborn daughter as another weapon.
"Marcus," I whispered, "please tell me you don't believe this."
He looked away.
That hurt more than his shouting.
"Tell me who the father is, Nia."
The room went silent.
I stared at the man I had loved for six years.
The man who had held my hand through fourteen hours of labor.
The man who had kissed my forehead and promised we would always protect our daughter together.
And I realized something terrifying.
He had already decided I was guilty.
I held Ava closer.
"You both believed this without even asking me?"
Marcus slapped the document against the table.
"Then explain the test!"
I looked down at the paper again.
Something was wrong.
The hospital logo looked unfamiliar.
And although I was exhausted from sleepless nights, I knew something about medical documents.
I'd worked in hospitals for years.
I knew legitimate laboratory reports included traceable reference information.
This paper looked suspiciously incomplete.
"Where did you get this?"
Marcus hesitated.
Diane answered immediately.
"From a reliable source."
"What source?"
"That is none of your concern."
I slowly lifted my head.
"Actually, it's entirely my concern."
I reached for my phone.
Marcus frowned.
"What are you doing?"
"Getting the truth."
I balanced Ava securely against my chest with one arm and unlocked my phone with the other.
Then I searched for the hospital's direct number.
Diane's expression changed.
Only slightly.
But I noticed.
"There's no need to make a scene," she said quickly.
I ignored her.
Marcus stepped closer.
"Nia, answer my question first."
"No."
He blinked.
"No?"
"You're going to listen."
I called the hospital and requested the patient services representative who had been coordinating our records.
After explaining the situation, I was transferred to Dr. Anderson, the physician responsible for our daughter's newborn follow-up care.
I put the call on speaker.
"Dr. Anderson, this is Nia Carter. I'm calling about Ava's verified paternity testing."
Her voice was calm.
"Yes, Mrs. Carter. I have the authorized results here."
I looked at Marcus.
He stared at the phone.
Diane suddenly began twisting the gold bracelet around her wrist.
"Can you confirm what the report says?" I asked.
"Certainly. The verified laboratory result confirms that Marcus Carter is Ava's biological father."
Everything stopped.
Marcus's mouth opened.
Diane went completely still.
I closed my eyes.
I knew the truth already.
But hearing someone else say it made the pain in my chest even sharper.
I looked at my husband.
"Do you hear that?"
He didn't answer.
I wiped my cheeks.
"Your daughter. Your biological daughter."
Marcus slowly lowered himself onto the edge of the sofa.
"I don't understand."
Neither did I.
Not yet.
Then Dr. Anderson spoke again.
"Mrs. Carter, there's something else you need to know."
I tightened my grip on the phone.
"What is it?"
"The DNA envelope your husband described was not issued by our hospital."
Marcus looked up.
"What?"
"Our laboratory did not produce a report stating that you were not Ava's father. The document you received did not originate from our authorized testing system."
I stared at the envelope.
The same envelope that had nearly destroyed my marriage.
The same envelope Diane had insisted was proof that I was a liar.
Marcus slowly turned toward his mother.
"Mom?"
Diane took one step backward.
"Marcus, sweetheart, listen—"
He stood.
"Where did you get that test?"
Her face drained of color.
I looked directly at her.
"So who gave you the fake test?"
Diane opened her mouth.
Then closed it.
For the first time since I'd met her, my mother-in-law looked genuinely frightened.
Marcus reached for the envelope.
"Mom, I'm asking you a question."
Diane backed toward the staircase.
And then her phone began ringing.
She glanced at the screen.
I saw the name before she could hide it.
VERNON.
Diane declined the call.
Two seconds later, another message appeared.
I couldn't read all of it.
But I saw enough.
"Did he believe the results?"
My blood turned cold.
Marcus followed my eyes.
"Who is Vernon?"
Diane clutched her phone.
"He's nobody."
Then another message flashed across the screen.
"Don't let them contact the hospital again."
I looked at Marcus.
And suddenly, the fake DNA test was no longer the most frightening thing in that room.
Someone had planned this.
May you like
Someone had expected my husband to believe it.
And my mother-in-law knew exactly who that someone was.
