“Don’t you dare call my son that!” I snapped, fury rising through the pain.
Scott finally spoke, but his words shattered me more than Adelaide’s. “I don’t know what to believe anymore, Olivia. The test is clear.”
That was the moment my heart broke completely.
I looked at the man I had loved since college—the man who had cried when Toby was born, who had held my hand through sleepless nights. Now he stood there, silent and distant, while his mother humiliated me in front of two dozen relatives.
I turned toward the door, ready to leave with whatever dignity I had left, when three sharp knocks echoed through the foyer.
No one moved.
The front door opened without waiting for permission. An unfamiliar man in a dark suit stepped inside, carrying a black folder. His expression was grave.
“Sorry for interrupting your… gathering,” he said, looking directly at Scott. “I’m Dr. Raymond Ellis from the laboratory. There’s a serious issue with the DNA test you received.”
The entire room fell deathly silent.
---
Dr. Ellis didn’t wait for an invitation. He walked straight to the center of the room, his eyes scanning the hostile faces.
“Mr. Scott Hargrove, the results you were given are fraudulent. The sample we tested for your son Toby was not his DNA.”
Scott’s arms dropped to his sides. “What?”
Adelaide stepped forward aggressively. “This is ridiculous. We paid for that test ourselves. How dare you come in here—”
