On their wedding anniversary, James handed his wife a sealed envelope containing the DNA test results of their children.
“I know you think this is a gift, but how could you?” Emily held the white envelope between her fingers as if it might burn her. “On our anniversary, James! Our fifteenth anniversary!”
James stood by the window, watching the July sun flood their garden. His broad shoulders tensed.
“You have to understand, Emily. I had the right to know.”
Traces of their celebration lingered around themhalf-finished champagne, the remains of a cake with fifteen candles, a vase of lilies on the dining table. Their countryside home, bought five years ago, suddenly felt foreign and cold despite the warmth outside.
“Know what? That Daniel isnt yours? This is some horrible mistake!” Emily flung the envelope onto the table. “I have never betrayed you, do you hear me? Never!”
James turned to face her, anger and pain warring in his eyes.
“Then explain these results. Explain why the probability of paternity is less than one percent!”
The front door slammed. Their fourteen-year-old daughter, Sophie, stood in the doorway. Tall like her father, with the same deep-set grey eyes.
“Whats going on?” She glanced between them. “Are you seriously arguing on your anniversary?”
Emily snatched the envelope off the table.
“Its nothing, Sophie. Just work talk.”
“On a weekend?” Sophie narrowed her eyes, mirroring her fathers skepticism. “Fine, keep your secrets. Im going to Katieswere seeing a movie.”
Once she was gone, Emily sank into a chair.
“Wheres Daniel?”
“At the Parkers. They picked him up from footballhes staying over.” James poured himself more champagne. “Funny, isnt it? Celebrating fifteen years together, only to find out Ive been raising someone elses child for ten of them.”
“Hes not someone elses!” Emily shot up. “How can you say that? Youre his fatheryou held him when he was born, taught him to ride a bike, you”
“Because I thought he was mine!” James slammed his glass down, spilling champagne across the tablecloth. “Now I dont know what to think. Who is he, Emily? Whose child is he?”
“Mine and yours. Ours. Theres been a mistake with the test.”
“I checked three times, Emily. Three! I didnt want to believe the first result.”
Emily felt the ground tilt beneath her.
“When did you start doubting? Why did you even do this test?”
James hesitated, then exhaled heavily.
“Victor.”
“Victor? Your old colleague? Whats he got to do with this?”
“Two weeks ago, we ran into each other at the hardware store. We talked. He asked about you, the kids. And then he said something that made me wonder.”
Emilys hands went cold.
“What exactly?”
“He implied there was an affair. That you and he” James couldnt finish.
“What?!” Emily stood abruptly. “Me and Victor? Have you lost your mind? I couldnt stand him! He was always undermining you at workyou said so yourself!”
“I know,” James ran a hand through his hair. “But then I started thinking Daniel doesnt look like me. Not like anyone in my family. And the timing I was working away that year, gone for weeks at a time.”
“I cant believe youd trust Victor over me,” Emily whispered, sinking back into her chair. “Fifteen years of marriage, and youd take his word instead of mine.”
“I wanted to believe you. Thats why I took the testto prove Victor wrong. But the results” He nodded toward the envelope. “They said otherwise.”
A heavy silence filled the room.
“What now?” Emily finally asked.
James grabbed his bag. “I need time. Ill stay at Toms for a few days.”
Emily wanted to argue, but the words stuck in her throat. She watched numbly as her husband walked out of the house theyd built together. When the door shut, she buried her face in her hands and wept.
Tom, Jamess younger brother, handed him a mug of coffee. “I dont get it. Why even take the test?”
They sat in Toms small but cosy kitchen. Dark circles under Jamess eyes betrayed his sleepless night.
“You didnt see Victors face when he said it. So smug. And you know Daniel doesnt look like me.”
“He looks like Emily,” Tom shrugged. “So what? My Noah takes after Sarah more than me.”
“But the test”
“Are you sure its accurate? Who did the analysis?”
James pulled a crumpled business card from his pocket.
“GeneSure. Private lab, but reputable. I checked.”
Tom turned the card over in his hands. “So what now?”
“I dont know,” James rubbed his face. “It feels like my whole worlds collapsed.”
“Did you talk to Emily? What does she say?”
“That she never cheated. That its a mistake.”
“Do you believe her?”
James met his brothers gaze.
“Fifteen years, I did. Now I dont know.”
Emily sat across from the director of MedTest Labs, her expression resolute despite exhaustion.
“I need the results as fast as possible,” she said, sliding the sample vials forward. “Ill pay extra for expedited processing.”
The director, a stern woman in glasses, nodded. “Three days. But I must warn you, paternity tests are serious. If youre questioning another labs results”
“Im certain there was a mistake. My husband is Daniels father. I need to prove it.”
After leaving the lab, Emily called her best friend, Rachel.
“I need your help. You worked at the hospital ten years ago, right? Do you remember Irene from maternity?”
Sophie found her mother hunched over the computer, scribbling notes.
“Mum, whats going on? Wheres Dad? Hes not answering my texts.”
Emily flinched and closed the laptop.
“Dads staying with Uncle Tom. We had a disagreement.”
“About what?” Sophie crossed her arms. “Why were you shouting?”
Emily sighed. Sophie was too sharp for half-truths.
“Your father doubts hes Daniels biological father.”
Sophie froze. “What? How?”
“He took a DNA test. It says hes not.” Emily grasped her daughters hands. “But its wrong, Sophie. I swear its wrong.”
“Did you” Sophies voice cracked. “Did you cheat on Dad?”
“No! Never! I love him. I always have.”
Sophie yanked her hands free. “Then how is Daniel not his? DNA doesnt lie, Mum!”
“Labs make mistakes. People tamper with results.”
“Tamper? What are you saying?”
Emily opened her notebook. “I think the results were faked. Or there was a mix-up at the hospital. Or”
“Youre making up insane theories instead of admitting the truth!” Sophie shouted. “You lied to all of us! Poor Dad! Poor Daniel!”
“Sophie, please”
“Dont touch me! I dont want to talk to you!”
The door slammed behind her. Emily collapsed into a chair, tears streaming.
Rachel brought Emily to a quiet café on the outskirts of town.
“Shell be here in five,” Rachel checked her phone. “I didnt mention you.”
Irene, a sharp-faced woman with a wary expression, froze when she saw Emily.
“What is this, Rachel? You lied to me?”
“Please,” Emily stood. “I just need to ask you something.”
“I have nothing to say to you.” Irene turned to leave.
“I know you dated James before me,” Emily blurted. “And you worked maternity when Daniel was born.”
Irene slowly turned. “So?”
“Was there a mix-up? Aa switch?”
Irene barked a bitter laugh.
“You think I swapped your baby for revenge? Seriously?”
“I dont know what to think!” Emily cried. “A test says James isnt Daniels father. I never cheated. How?”
Irene sat.
“Listen. Was I angry when James left me for you? Yes. Did I work maternity when you gave birth? Yes. But Im not insane enough to swap babies!”
“Then what happened?”
Irene studied her. “What exactly did the test say? That James isnt the father? Or that Daniel isnt yours?”
“Just that James isnt.”
“Which lab?”
“GeneSure.”
Irene frowned. “Funny coincidence. My niece Alice works there. She processes results.”
Emily and Rachel exchanged glances.
“Could she alter them?” Rachel asked carefully.
“I didnt say that. But Alice shes loyal. And she knows what happened with James.”
Margaret, Jamess grandmother, waited in her
