CHAPTER 10 The DNA Test Diane Hid
CHAPTER 10 The DNA Test Diane Hid
I spent the entire night staring at the same three things.
The memory card.
The necklace.
And my daughter.
Three objects.
Three pieces of a puzzle.
A puzzle that had been hidden from me since before Lily was born.
I sat beside her bed and watched her sleep.
Her tiny fingers held onto her stuffed rabbit.
Her cheeks were soft.
Her breathing was calm.
She had no idea that adults were fighting over secrets connected to her.
She didn’t know that powerful people had built plans around her.
She didn’t know that the woman who called herself her grandmother had looked at her as a threat instead of a child.
All Lily knew was love.
And I promised myself something.
No matter what the truth was…
No matter who betrayed me…
I would never let anyone use her again.
At seven in the morning, Jason arrived.
This time, I didn’t let him inside immediately.
I met him in the hallway.
He looked exhausted.
Like he hadn’t slept either.
“Where is Lily?”
“Safe.”
His expression tightened.
“I need to see her.”
“You need to answer questions first.”
He nodded.
“I expected that.”
I studied him.
For the first time since we met, Jason looked like he wasn’t trying to control the situation.
He looked like a man who knew he had lost that ability.
“Tell me about the DNA test.”
He looked down.
“Okay.”
“Who ordered it?”
“Diane.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
“Why?”
Jason hesitated.
“Because she suspected something.”
“About Lily?”
“Yes.”
I crossed my arms.
“What?”
He took a deep breath.
“She believed Lily’s birth records were hiding something.”
I stared at him.
“And she was right?”
Jason looked away.
“I don’t know.”
My anger rose.
“You don’t know?”
“The records were changed. The test was complicated.”
“No.”
I shook my head.
“You’re doing it again.”
He looked at me.
“Doing what?”
“Giving me half the truth.”
His face fell.
So I continued.
“You always tell me just enough to make yourself look less guilty.”
“That’s not fair.”
“Fair?”
I almost laughed.
“Jason, my entire marriage might have been built on lies.”
He had no response.
Finally, he said:
“The DNA test showed Lily is not biologically connected to me.”
The hallway went silent.
I stared at him.
For a moment, I couldn’t understand the words.
Not connected to him.
Then:
“What?”
Jason swallowed.
“The test was negative.”
I felt like the floor disappeared.
“But Lily is yours.”
My voice cracked.
“She is your daughter.”
“I know.”
“Then why would the test say that?”
Jason looked devastated.
“Because someone changed the sample.”
I froze.
“What?”
He nodded.
“Diane had access to the process.”
My eyes narrowed.
“So she created this.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Jason looked at me.
“Because she needed a reason to separate me from you.”
I felt sick.
“She wanted you to believe I cheated.”
“Yes.”
“She wanted you to leave me.”
“Yes.”
“But why?”
Jason looked at Lily’s bedroom door.
“Because if I stayed loyal to you…”
He paused.
“Diane lost control.”
We went to a private medical office recommended by Michael.
A place where no Bennett employee had connections.
A place where nobody could quietly change records.
The doctor looked through the documents.
Then looked at me.
“Mrs. Parker, I need to ask something.”
“What?”
“Were you aware that the original newborn blood sample was missing?”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
The doctor looked serious.
“The hospital record shows the sample was replaced.”
“When?”
“Two days after Lily’s birth.”
I closed my eyes.
Two days.
That was when Diane had started moving.
Before anyone knew there would be a problem.
Before anyone suspected.
She had planned everything.
“Can you run a new test?”
The doctor nodded.
“Yes.”
“Today?”
“Yes.”
Jason looked nervous.
But I didn’t care.
I needed the truth.
Not Diane’s truth.
Not Jason’s truth.
Not Michael’s.
Mine.
Three hours later, we waited.
The silence was unbearable.
Jason sat across from me.
For once, he didn’t touch his phone.
He didn’t make excuses.
He just sat there.
Waiting.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
His eyes lifted.
“What?”
“When you found out.”
He looked down.
“I was scared.”
“Again.”
“I know.”
“No.”
My voice softened slightly.
“I need you to understand something.”
He listened.
“You weren’t protecting me.”
His eyes filled with regret.
“You were protecting yourself from losing everything.”
He nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
The honesty hurt.
But it was the first honest thing he had said in a long time.
“I thought if I found the truth first, I could fix it.”
“Fix what?”
“Everything.”
I shook my head.
“You can’t fix something by hiding the damage.”
He looked away.
“I know.”
The doctor finally entered.
I immediately stood.
“Well?”
She looked at both of us.
Then at the file in her hand.
“I have the results.”
My heart pounded.
She sat down.
“There are two findings.”
“What findings?”
“First…”
She looked at me.
“Lily is biologically your daughter.”
Relief hit me instantly.
Of course she was.
She was my baby.
But then the doctor continued.
“Second…”
The room became quiet.
“The previous test was manipulated.”
Jason closed his eyes.
I looked at him.
“And the person who changed it?”
The doctor hesitated.
“We traced the authorization.”
My stomach tightened.
“Who?”
She looked at the document.
“The request came from a legal representative.”
“Who?”
The doctor answered:
“Victoria Hale.”
My heart stopped.
“No.”
Jason looked shocked.
Michael had been wrong.
Victoria had been lying.
Or maybe…
there was something bigger.
I stood.
“Where is she?”
Jason looked at me.
“Emma—”
“Where is Victoria?”
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
Unknown number.
I answered.
“Hello?”
A woman’s voice.
Victoria.
“Emma, listen to me.”
My grip tightened.
“You changed Lily’s DNA test.”
Silence.
Then:
“Yes.”
My heart broke.
“Why?”
Her voice trembled.
“Because I was trying to protect her.”
“By lying to me?”
“No.”
“By changing medical records?”
“Emma, you don’t understand.”
I felt anger rise.
“Then explain.”
A long pause.
Then Victoria whispered:
“Because Diane didn’t order that test to prove Jason wasn’t Lily’s father.”
I froze.
“What?”
“She ordered it to find out if Lily was connected to Edward Parker.”
“My father?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Victoria’s voice became terrified.
“Because Diane discovered your father left behind one final piece of evidence.”
I looked at the necklace.
“The memory card?”
“Yes.”
“What’s on it?”
Victoria whispered:
“The proof that Diane Bennett murdered someone.”
The room went silent.
My blood turned cold.
“Who?”
Victoria answered:
“Your father.”
I couldn’t breathe.
“No.”
“I’m sorry.”
“My father died in an accident.”
“No.”
Her voice broke.
“It was made to look like an accident.”
I felt the phone slipping from my hand.
Because the woman who had controlled my marriage…
the woman who had hurt my daughter…
was now connected to the death of my father.
And suddenly, this was no longer about leaving Jason.
It was about justice.
For Lily.
For me.
For the man who had tried to reveal the truth before they silenced him.
I looked at Jason.
He looked terrified.
Because he knew.
This was the moment everything changed.
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The Bennett family wasn’t hiding a scandal.
They were hiding a crime.
