He kept reading silently, his face changing with every line. Confusion. Fear. Recognition. Grief for a man no longer alive to explain himself.
“What does it say?” I whispered.
Arthur swallowed hard.
“It says the DNA test may have been wrong about Chloe because the sample marked as mine might reveal something else.”
“What?”
He looked down at the letter again.
Before he could answer, my phone rang.
The screen showed my mother’s name.
Mom.
It was almost midnight. She never called that late unless something was wrong.
I answered with cold fingers.
“Mom?”
For a moment, there was only breathing.
Then my mother said, “Naomi, where are you?”
“At home.”
“Is Arthur with you?”
I looked at him.
“Yes.”
Her voice broke. “Then listen carefully. If Victoria showed you the folder, don’t believe the first thing you read.”
My heart began to pound.
“Mom, what is going on?”
A car door closed outside.
Arthur stood and moved to the window.
My mother whispered, “I should have told you before tonight. Arthur’s father wasn’t the only man involved.”
Arthur turned from the window, his face pale.
“Naomi,” he said quietly, “Victoria just came back.”
But I was barely listening.
Because my mother had started crying.
And through her tears, she said, “Arthur may not be Chloe’s biological father because Arthur may not be who Victoria thinks he is.”
END OF PART 2