Chapter 2
The silence that followed was thicker than the one after my slap.
Margaret’s face drained of color. She reached for the test again, her hands shaking so hard her diamond bracelet slid down her wrist.
“Give me that,” she hissed. “That’s private.”
James stepped back, holding the paper out of her reach. His voice cracked when he spoke.
“Answer me, Mother. Why does this test say you are Lily’s mother? I held her the second she was born. Emily carried her for nine months.”
A murmur rippled through the crowd. Phones came out. People whispered to each other, their eyes darting between Margaret, the test, and Lily still curled in my lap.
I could barely breathe. I’d spent nine months talking to Lily in my belly, singing to her, staying up all night when she was sick. There was no way Margaret was her biological mother. It was impossible.
“Lab error,” Margaret said quickly, forcing a laugh that sounded like breaking glass. “These things happen all the time. You know how incompetent those clinics are.”
“Lab error doesn’t print your full name and social security number next to ‘99.9% maternal match,’” James said.
He pulled out his phone and dialed the number printed at the top of the report. He put it on speaker. The line rang three times before a receptionist answered.
“Genova Diagnostics, how may I help you?”
“Hi,” James said, his voice steady but cold. “I’m calling to verify a DNA test report. File number GH-78945, under the name Margaret Hale and Lily Hale.”
The receptionist typed for a few seconds.
“Yes, sir. That report was issued three days ago. The results are confirmed and filed in our system. Margaret Hale is the biological mother of Lily Hale. Paternity on file is James Hale. Would you like a digital copy sent to your email?”
The ballroom erupted.
A woman in a silver gown dropped her champagne flute. A man muttered “I knew she was crazy” loud enough for half the room to hear. Margaret spun around, screaming at everyone to stop recording, to mind their own business, but no one listened.
James hung up the phone. He looked at his mother like he’d never seen her before.
“You’re her mother,” he said. “How? How is this possible?”
Lily tugged on my shirt. Her eyes were wide, wet with tears she was too scared to let fall.
“Mommy,” she whispered. “Am I not yours too?”
My heart shattered into a thousand pieces. I pulled her tighter, kissing the top of her head.
“You are mine,” I said, my voice breaking. “You will always be mine. No piece of paper changes that.”
Richard, James’ father, pushed through the crowd. He’d been giving a speech on the other side of the room and had missed everything until the screaming started. He took one look at Margaret’s white face, the test in James’ hand, and Lily bleeding on the floor, and his jaw set.
“What is going on here?” he demanded.
“Your wife has been lying to all of us for six years,” James said. He held the test out to his father. “She’s Lily’s biological mother.”
Richard read the report twice. When he looked up, his face was purple with rage. He turned to Margaret.
“Explain,” he said. “Now.”
Margaret opened her mouth to lie again, but no words came out. She looked at Richard, at James, at the hundreds of people recording her downfall, and for the first time I’d ever known her, she looked small. Scared.
“I did it for the family,” she whispered.
Richard’s hand cracked across her face before anyone could move.
The sound was louder than my slap had been. Margaret stumbled back, falling into a table of hors d’oeuvres.
“Family?” Richard roared. “You destroyed this family tonight. You have ten seconds to tell me the truth, or I’m calling the police and having you arrested for fraud.”
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Margaret stared at him, her hand pressed to her cheek. Tears finally spilled down her face—but they weren’t tears of regret. They were tears of anger. Of frustration that her perfect plan had fallen apart.
“You’ll regret this,” she said, her voice low and dangerous. “All of you will regret turning on me.”
