Because sometimes the mind rejects a truth before the heart can touch it.
“No.”
“DNA confirmed it.”
“No.”
“Charles knew.”
That ended the laughter.
“What?”
“Your father knew.”
“Charles isn’t my biological father.”
“Exactly.”
Daniel stood in the condo alone, surrounded by furniture I had once chosen.
“Vanessa, what are you saying?”
“Lucas contacted Charles months ago. Charles tested him. Lucas is your biological son.”
“And you…”
Daniel couldn’t finish.
Vanessa did.
“The baby is Lucas’s.”
For nearly a minute, neither spoke.
Then Daniel hung up.
He drove directly to his parents’ house.
Barbara opened the door.
One look at his face told her.
“You knew.”
Barbara’s shoulders sagged.
“Daniel—”
“You knew I had a son?”
“No.”
“My own son contacted Dad and nobody told me?”
“I didn’t know about Lucas.”
“But you knew about Thomas.”
She looked away.
Daniel walked into the living room.
