Chapter 6 - The Test They Stole
Nathan did not sleep that night.
By morning, he had three private investigators, two attorneys, and a former federal cyber specialist working the case.
Grace hated every second of it.
“You’re turning Lily into a corporate crisis.”
Nathan looked at her. “Someone stole her DNA from a courier pretending to be police.”
“I know.”
“Then what would you call it?”
“A reason to keep her life small and safe.”
Nathan lowered his voice. “I don’t know how to do small.”
Grace met his eyes. “Learn.”
That sentence stayed with him.
The second test was done at a hospital under Rebecca’s direct supervision. Nathan and Lily never left the same secure floor until both samples were logged.
Forty-eight hours later, the result arrived.
99.9997% probability of paternity.
Nathan read the number once.
Then again.
His vision blurred.
Grace stood across the room holding Lily.
Nathan looked at the child.
“My daughter.”
Lily hid her face in Grace’s shoulder.
Nathan did not move toward her.
He had already learned that wanting closeness did not give him the right to demand it.
Rebecca cleared her throat.
“There’s more.”
The hospital lab compared the second sample to residue recovered from the stolen test’s transport sleeve.
Someone had replaced Lily’s swab before taking the box.
“With what?” Nathan asked.
“A sample from an unrelated child.”
Grace stared at him.
“They were going to make it look negative.”
Rebecca nodded.
Then Daniel entered.
“We found the fake officer.”
Nathan stood.
“Who?”
“A Whitmore security contractor named Owen Reese.”
Grace’s face changed.
Nathan noticed.
May you like
“You know him?”
She whispered, “He was the man outside my mother’s house four years ago.”
