CHAPTER 3 : The DNA Secret
The words echoed through the hospital hallway.
"She's not my daughter."
For a moment, nobody moved.
Not the nurses walking past.
Not the patients sitting nearby.
Not even the little girl holding onto Elias's hand.
Sophie didn't understand what was happening.
She was only seven years old.
Seven years old was too young to understand words like DNA.
Too young to understand that adults could lie.
Too young to understand that the person you called your father could suddenly be questioned by a piece of paper.
All she understood was the look on Elias's face.
And it scared her.
"Daddy?"
Her tiny voice broke the silence.
Elias immediately dropped the paper.
"No."
He knelt down in front of her.
"No, Sophie. Look at me."
She stared at him with frightened eyes.
"Are you still my daddy?"
That question destroyed him.
Because there was no hesitation.
Not even for one second.
He pulled her into his arms.
"Always."
His voice cracked.
"Always."
I watched him hold her.
And something inside me changed.
Because that was the moment I realized something.
DNA didn't create a father.
Love did.
Vanessa looked satisfied.
That was the part that bothered me most.
Not the DNA test.
Not the confusion.
Not even the fear.
Her expression.
She looked like someone watching a plan finally succeed.
I stepped toward her.
"You did this."
Her eyebrows lifted.
"Excuse me?"
"You wanted this moment."
She smiled.
"I wanted the truth."
"No."
My voice was calm.
"You wanted to hurt him."
The lawyer looked uncomfortable.
Vanessa crossed her arms.
"You always were emotional, Adelaide."
"And you always were manipulative."
Elias stood up.
His expression was different now.
The fear was still there.
But something else had replaced it.
Anger.
"Vanessa."
She looked at him.
"I trusted you."
For the first time...
She looked away.
"I helped you."
"No."
His voice was quiet.
"You controlled my life."
Everyone became silent.
Sophie looked between them.
"Daddy..."
Elias immediately softened.
"I'm sorry, sweetheart."
He picked her up.
"Let's go home."
But before he left...
He looked at me.
And in his eyes was a question.
Not about the baby.
Not about us.
A question about whether I believed him.
I didn't answer.
Because I didn't know.
Three hours later, Elias called me.
I almost didn't answer.
Almost.
But when I saw his name...
I remembered Sophie.
Not him.
Sophie.
"Hello?"
"Thank you for answering."
His voice sounded exhausted.
"How is she?"
"Sleeping."
A pause.
"She cried for twenty minutes."
I closed my eyes.
"She's scared."
"I know."
His voice broke.
"She kept asking if I was leaving."
My heart tightened.
Because I knew that fear.
The fear of someone you love disappearing.
"I told her I wasn't."
"And are you?"
The question escaped before I could stop it.
Silence.
Then:
"No."
I sat down.
"Elias..."
"I left once."
His voice became softer.
"I won't do it again."
I looked away.
"You don't get to promise things after breaking them."
"I know."
That answer surprised me.
No excuses.
No defense.
Just acceptance.
"I know I hurt you."
My eyes burned.
"But I need to fix what I can."
The next morning, I saw him again.
Not at the hospital.
At a coffee shop near my apartment.
A place we used to visit.
I almost turned around.
But he was already standing.
Waiting.
"I thought you wouldn't come."
"I almost didn't."
He nodded.
"I know."
That was becoming his answer to everything.
I know.
But for once...
I believed he meant it.
He looked different.
Less like the powerful businessman everyone knew.
More like the man I fell in love with.
Broken.
Human.
"I hired an investigator."
I frowned.
"Why?"
"Because something isn't right."
He placed a folder on the table.
"I requested the original DNA records."
I didn't touch it.
"What did you find?"
"Nothing yet."
He paused.
"But I found something else."
He opened another file.
Inside were old documents.
Hospital records.
Birth certificates.
Insurance forms.
My eyes moved across the pages.
Then stopped.
"Wait."
I looked closer.
"Sophie's mother..."
Elias nodded.
"Her name is Emily."
I looked at him.
"I thought her mother died."
"She did."
"Then why..."
He pointed at a document.
"This."
I read the date.
My heart stopped.
The document was signed three months before Emily's death.
A request for a DNA test.
I looked at Elias.
"She already questioned it?"
He nodded slowly.
"Before she died."
"Why didn't you know?"
"Because Vanessa handled everything."
The pieces started connecting.
Vanessa wasn't just lying now.
She had been lying for years.
That afternoon, something unexpected happened.
Sophie came to visit me.
She was holding a drawing.
"Look!"
She handed it to me.
I smiled.
It was a picture of three people.
A tall man.
A woman.
A little girl.
And beside them...
A tiny baby.
"Is this your family?"
She nodded.
"Yes."
I looked at the picture.
My throat tightened.
"Who is the baby?"
She smiled.
"Your baby."
I looked at her.
"And why am I in the picture?"
She shrugged.
"Because you're family too."
Children had a way of saying things adults were too afraid to admit.
That night, Elias arrived at my apartment.
I opened the door and immediately knew something was wrong.
"What happened?"
He looked pale.
"I found Emily's old phone."
I froze.
"How?"
"Her sister had it."
"Vanessa?"
He nodded.
"She kept it hidden."
My stomach tightened.
"What was on it?"
He handed me the phone.
"There was one video."
My hands became cold.
"Of what?"
He pressed play.
A woman's face appeared.
Emily.
Sophie's real mother.
She looked tired.
But peaceful.
The video was clearly recorded privately.
"If you're watching this..."
Emily took a breath.
"I don't know if I got the chance to tell you the truth."
Elias froze.
Because she was speaking to him.
"There's something you need to know about Sophie."
The video continued.
"Before I died, I found out that..."
The screen suddenly glitched.
The video stopped.
Elias looked frustrated.
"That's all?"
"No."
He shook his head.
"The rest was deleted."
I looked at him.
"By who?"
He didn't answer.
Because we both knew.
Vanessa.
The next day, Vanessa appeared at the hospital again.
But this time...
She wasn't confident.
She looked nervous.
I noticed immediately.
"You're afraid."
She stared at me.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Yes, you do."
I stepped closer.
"You've controlled this story for years."
Her expression changed.
"Be careful."
"No."
I smiled slightly.
"You be careful."
For the first time, Vanessa looked uncertain.
Then she whispered:
"You think you know everything."
"I know enough."
She leaned closer.
"You really believe Elias is innocent?"
I didn't answer.
Because that was the question I was asking myself.
She smiled.
"Ask him about the night Sophie was born."
My heart stopped.
"What about it?"
Vanessa walked away.
But before she disappeared around the corner...
She said:
"Ask him why Emily died believing he betrayed her."
That night, I found Elias sitting outside Sophie's room.
He looked exhausted.
"Adelaide?"
I stood there.
"Vanessa told me something."
His expression changed.
"What?"
"The night Sophie was born."
He became completely still.
"What about it?"
I watched his face.
And I knew.
There was something.
Something he wasn't telling me.
"Elias..."
He looked down.
"I didn't tell you because I was ashamed."
My heart started racing.
"What happened?"
He closed his eyes.
Then whispered:
"The night Sophie was born..."
A long silence.
"I wasn't there."
I stared at him.
"What?"
His voice broke.
"Because I thought Emily wanted me gone."
My blood ran cold.
"Who told you that?"
He looked at me.
And the answer was written all over his face.
"Vanessa."
The room went silent.
Then Elias said the words that changed everything.
"Adelaide..."
His eyes filled with tears.
"I think Vanessa destroyed more than just our relationship."
May you like
He looked toward Sophie's room.
"I think she destroyed Emily's life too."
