The CEO's Regret: His Lost Wife's Secret Twins novel Chapter 62

Chapter 62

ARIA

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DNA Diagnostics was just another building in Manhattan. Glass doors, reception desk, certificates on walls. I sat in the waiting area with

the manila envelope in my lap.

Ten minutes since I’d picked it up from the front desk. Ten minutes of staring at the seal.

My fingers traced the edge. One tear, and I’d know. One tear, and everything might change.

What if I was wrong? What if Christine really was my mother, and I’d spent twenty-three years imagining problems that didn’t exist?

I pressed my palm against my stomach. This baby deserved to know the truth about family.

The envelope bent under my grip.

Just open it. Get it over with.

My hands wouldn’t move. They held the answer to twenty-six years of questions and refused to cooperate.

What would Dad say? Would he understand why I’d doubted Christine?

A woman across from me kept glancing over. Probably wondering why I was sitting here with an unopened envelope.

I thought about leaving. Throwing it away. Pretending I’d never had the test done.

My fingers slid under the flap. Tearing. Opening.

The paper inside was crisp and clinical. Black text on white that might as well have been written in blood.

DNA PATERNITY TEST RESULTS

Conclusion: The tested samples show high DNA incompatibility. Results indicate NO BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP between the subjects.

I read it again. Then again. The letters didn’t change.

No biological relationship.

I wasn’t surprised. Not really. Some part of me had always known Christine looked at me wrong. Not how mothers look at daughters.

“Miss, are you okay?” The woman leaned forward.

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Chapter 62

I’d stopped breathing. I forced air into my lungs.

“I’m fine. Thank you.”

She sat back, unconvinced.

I folded the report and slid it into my purse. My hands moved automatically as I stood and walked out.

Manhattan noise hit me-horns, voices, the usual chaos. Everything felt too loud, too bright.

Memories came flooding back.

Around one week earlier

The Grants had asked me to get some of Dad’s old files from the main house. I’d gathered what they needed, then found myself in

Christine’s room.

Everything arranged just so. Perfume bottles. Jewelry box. And there, on the vanity, her silver hairbrush.

I’d stood there for five full minutes, staring at that brush. Knowing what I was about to do. Knowing there’d be no going back.

One hair. That’s all I needed.

My hand shook as I pulled it free, careful with the root. My own hair was easier. Two samples. Two lives. One truth waiting.

The lab technician looked up when I walked in.

“Can I help you?”

I set the samples on the counter in their separate bags. “I need a DNA test. How long?”

She examined the bags and typed something. “Standard paternity test is seven business days. We’re closing soon though.”

“I can pay for rush processing.”

“Won’t help. The analysis takes time.” She printed a form and pushed it across. Fill this out. We’ll call when results are ready.”

Seven days to wonder. Seven days to doubt. Seven days to prepare for what I already knew.

Now, walking through Manhattan with the results in my purse, those seven days felt endless.

I wasn’t Christine Taylor’s daughter. So who was I? Some orphan they’d taken in? A replacement for a child they’d lost?

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My hand moved to my stomach. This baby might be my only real family. The only blood that was actually mine,

Redwood Medical Center appeared ahead. I needed to see Dad. Needed to sit with the one parent who might actually be mine.

I knew the route by heart now. Past the gift shop. Through the cardiac wing. Up the elevator.

Aaron Taylor was exactly as I’d left him yesterday. Machines breathing for him. Monitors tracking everything. He looked smaller each time

I visited.

I pulled the chair close and sat down hard.

“Dad. My voice broke on the word. “I did something. Something I probably shouldn’t have.”

The machines kept their steady rhythm. No judgment. No anger. Just existence.

“I tested Christine’s DNA against mine. The confession escaped before I could stop it. “The results came back today. We’re not related.

Not biologically.”

I waited for something. Anything. Nothing happened except the steady beep.

“Am I even yours?” The question tore out. “Or am I just some random kid you both felt sorry for?”

My hands gripped the bedrail. Cold metal.

“She always hated me. Always looked at me wrong. Now I know why.” I leaned closer. “I wasn’t hers. I was never hers.”

The machines continued. Dad’s chest rose and fell with mechanical precision.

“Maybe this baby is all I have.” My hand pressed against my stomach. “My only real family. The only person who’ll actually share my

blood.”

His eyelid moved.

I froze. Watched. Waited.

There. Again. A flutter. His eyes shifting beneath closed lids.

“Dad?” I grabbed his hand, squeezing hard. “Dad, can you hear me?”

His fingers were warm. They’d always been warm, but this felt different. Someone home.

‘Dad, please. If you can hear me, squeeze my hand. Move your fingers. Anything.”

Nothing. But his eyes kept moving. Searching. Fighting to open.

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I hit the call button. Once. Twice. Three times.

A nurse burst through the door. “What happened?”

“His eyes. They’re moving. Look.”

She rushed to the monitors, checking readings. Her face shifted from alarm to focus.

‘I need Dr. Mayer. Now.” She spoke into her radio.

Seconds later, Dr. Jonathan Mayer appeared, rushing to Dad’s bedside.

He pulled out a penlight and lifted Dad’s eyelids one by one. The light moved back and forth. Dad’s pupils contracted. Responded.

“Talk to me.” I couldn’t hide the desperation.

Jonathan checked the monitors, concentrating. “He’s moving toward consciousness recovery. Slowly.” He faced me. “Have you been talking

to him?”

“Yes. I was telling him about…” I stopped. About how I’m not really his daughter? About how my entire life might be a lie? “About family

stuff.

“Keep doing that.” Jonathan’s voice was firm. “He’s responding to your voice. On some level, he’s trying to reach you.”

Trying to reach me. If only he could actually answer my questions.

My phone exploded with sound.

Who the hell would be calling at a time like this?

My heart skipped a beat as I glanced at the caller ID. That familiar name made me freeze. Without a second thought, I jabbed the decline button, my finger trembling slightly.

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