On their wedding anniversary, my husband gave me an envelope containing the DNA test results of our children.
“I know you think this is a gift, but how could you?” Emily held the white envelope between two fingers, as if it might burn her. “On our anniversary, Nicholas! Our fifteenth!”
Nicholas stood by the window, staring at the sunlit garden. His broad shoulders tensed.
“You have to understand, Emily. I had the right to know.”
Around them, traces of the celebration lingeredhalf-drunk champagne, the remains of a cake with fifteen candles, a vase of lilies on the table. Their countryside home, bought five years ago, suddenly felt cold and unfamiliar despite the summer heat outside.
“Know what? That Andrew isnt your son?” Emily tossed the envelope onto the table. “This is some terrible mistake. Ive never betrayed you, do you hear me? Never!”
Nicholas turned to her, anger and pain warring in his eyes.
“Then explain these results. Explain why they say the probability of me being the father is less than one percent!”
The front door slammed. In the doorway stood Vera, their fourteen-year-old daughtertall like her father, with his same deep-set grey eyes.
“Whats going on?” she asked, glancing between them. “Are you fighting? On your anniversary?”
Emily snatched the envelope from the table.
“Nothing, Vera. Just work stuff.”
“On a weekend?” Vera narrowed her eyes, inheriting her fathers sharpness. “Fine, dont tell me. Im going to Kateswere seeing a film.”
When Vera left, Emily sank into a chair.
“Wheres Andrew?”
“At the Parkers. They picked him up after footballhes staying the night.” Nicholas poured himself more champagne. “Funny, isnt it? Celebrating fifteen years of marriage, 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, you taught him to ride a bike, you”
“I thought he was mine!” Nicholas slammed his glass down, spilling champagne on the tablecloth. “Now I dont know what to think. Who is he, Emily? Whose child is he?”
“Mine. 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 drop beneath her.
“When did you start doubting? Why did you even do this test?”
Nicholas hesitated, then sighed heavily.
“Victor.”
“Victor? Your old colleague? What does he have to do with this?”
“Two weeks ago, we bumped into each other at the hardware store. Got talking. He asked about you, the kids. Then he said something that made me question everything.”
Emilys hands went cold.
“What exactly?”
“He hinted that you two had an affair. That you that you” Nicholas couldnt finish.
“What?!” Emily leapt up. “Me and Victor? Have you lost your mind? I couldnt stand him! You always said he tried to undermine you at work!”
“I know,” Nicholas ran a hand through his hair. “But then I started remembering Andrew looks nothing like me. Nothing like my family. And the timing I was working away that year, gone for weeks at a time”
“I cant believe you dont trust me,” Emily whispered, sinking into a chair. “Fifteen years of marriage, and you believe Victor over me?”
“I wanted to believe you. Thats why I did the testto prove he was lying. But the results” He nodded at the envelope. “They say otherwise.”
A heavy silence filled the room.
“What now?” Emily finally asked.
“I dont know.” Nicholas grabbed his bag. “I need time. Ill stay at Ians for a few days.”
Emily wanted to protest, but the words stuck in her throat. She watched silently as her husband walked out of the house theyd built together. When the door clicked shut, she buried her face in her hands and wept.
—
“I dont get it,” Ian, Nicholass younger brother, handed him a coffee. “Why even do the test?”
They sat in Ians small but cosy flat. Nicholas hadnt slept, the dark circles under his eyes proof of it.
“You shouldve seen Victors face when he mentioned it. So sure of himself. And Andrew doesnt look like meyouve said it yourself.”
“He looks like Emily,” Ian shrugged. “So? My Jamie takes after Sarah more than me.”
“But the test results”
“Are you sure theyre accurate? Who did the test?”
Nicholas pulled a crumpled business card from his pocket.
“GenLab. Private, but well-reviewed. I checked.”
Ian turned the card over.
“So what now?”
“I dont know,” Nicholas rubbed his face. “Feels like my worlds collapsed.”
“Did you talk to Emily? What does she say?”
“That she never cheated. That its a mistake.”
“Do you believe her?”
Nicholas looked up.
“Fifteen years, I did. Now I dont know.”
—
Emily sat across from the director of MedTest. Exhausted but determined, she slid two vials across the desk.
“I need the results as fast as possible. Ill pay extra.”
The director, a stout woman in glasses, nodded.
“Three days. But DNA tests are serious. If you doubt another labs results”
“Im certain theyre wrong,” Emily said firmly. “My husband is my sons father. I need to prove it.”
Leaving the lab, Emily called her friend Marianne.
“I need your help. You worked at the hospital ten years ago, right? Remember Irene from maternity?”
At home, Vera found Emily hunched over the computer, scribbling notes.
“Mum, whats going on? Wheres Dad? Hes not answering my texts.”
Emily flinched, closing the laptop.
“Dads at Uncle Ians. We just had a disagreement.”
“About what?” Vera crossed her arms. “Why are you fighting?”
Emily sighed. Vera was too sharp for half-truths.
“Your father doubts hes Andrews biological father.”
Vera froze.
“What? How?”
“He did a DNA test. It says hes not. But its wrong, Vera. I know it is.”
“You cheated on Dad?” Veras voice trembled.
“No! Never!” Emily grabbed her hands. “I swear, Ive never betrayed him. I love him. I always have.”
Vera yanked free.
“Then where did Andrew come from? DNA doesnt lie, Mum!”
“Labs make mistakes. People manipulate results.”
“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!” Tears welled in Veras eyes. “You lied to all of us! Poor Dad! Poor Andrew!”
“Vera, please”
“Dont touch me!” Vera shoved past her, slamming the door.
Emily sank into a chair, tears falling freely. Her world was crumbling.
—
Marianne led Emily to a quiet café.
“Shell be here soon. I didnt mention you.”
A woman in her forties enteredshort hair, wary eyes. Seeing Emily, she stiffened.
“Whats this, Marianne? You lied?”
“Please, Irene,” Emily stood. “I just need answers.”
“Ive got nothing to say.” Irene turned to leave.
“I know you dated Nicholas before me. And you worked maternity when Andrew was born.”
Irene paused.
“So?”
“Was there a mix-up? Or” Emily couldnt say the word swap.
Irene laughed bitterly.
“You think I swapped your baby out of revenge? Seriously?”
“I dont know what to think!” Emily cried. “The test says my husband isnt Andrews father. Ive never cheated. How else do I explain it?”
Irene sat.
“What exactly did the test say? That Nicholas isnt the father? Or that the child isnt yours?”
“Just that Nicholas isnt the father.”
“Which lab?”
“GenLab.”
Irene frowned.
“Thats odd. My niece works there. Alice Carter. She processes results.”
Emily and Marianne exchanged glances.
“Could she alter them?” Marianne asked carefully.
“I didnt say that,” Irene said quickly. “But Alice shes loyal to me. And she knows about Nicholas.”
—
Margaret, Nicholass grandmother, waited in her cosy flat. At eighty, her mind was sharp as ever.
“Sit, boy. Ian told me everything. What nonsense is this?”
Nich
