Chapter 3 - THE OTHER WOMAN'S REAL JOB
Selena froze when she saw me.
I don't know what she expected.
Maybe tears.
Maybe screaming.
Maybe for me to collapse.
Instead, I looked at the badge attached to her scrubs.
Then I looked at Mason.
"You told me she worked in pharmaceutical sales."
Mason didn't answer.
Selena recovered first.
"This isn't what you think."
I laughed once.
It sounded ugly.
"I just gave birth to a baby whose paternity may have been altered through a fertility clinic where my husband's mistress secretly works."
I looked directly at her.
"So please."
"Tell me what I think."
Selena's face tightened.
Luka's gaze dropped to the evidence bag in her hand.
"What are you carrying?"
She immediately moved it behind her leg.
Dr. Porter noticed.
"Ms. Cross."
Selena turned.
"Give me the bag."
"It's laboratory property."
Dr. Porter extended her hand.
"Then you won't mind."
Mason stepped between them.
"Everyone needs to calm down."
That sentence almost made me lose control.
I had spent years calming down for Mason.
Calming down when he missed anniversaries.
Calming down when mysterious hotel charges appeared.
Calming down when he called me paranoid.
Calming down when he blamed fertility problems on my body even though he refused to show me his test results.
I wasn't calming down anymore.
"Give her the bag."
Selena stared at me.
For the first time, she looked afraid.
Luka moved toward the nearest security camera.
He pointed at it.
"Whatever happens next is being recorded."
Selena's fingers loosened.
Dr. Porter took the bag.
Inside was a small portable drive.
My patient identification number was printed on the label.
My knees weakened.
"That's mine."
Selena shook her head.
"It was scheduled for secure disposal."
"Why?"
"Routine retention policy."
Luka laughed quietly.
"On the day she gives birth?"
Selena looked away.
Dr. Porter inspected the seal.
It had been broken.
"What did you remove?"
Selena's face went pale.
"Nothing."
"Then why is the chain-of-custody seal broken?"
Mason interrupted.
"This is turning into a witch hunt."
I stared at him.
He wasn't defending me.
He wasn't defending his daughter.
He was defending Selena.
That told me everything about our marriage.
I handed the baby carefully to the nurse.
Then I removed my wedding ring.
Mason watched.
"Avery."
I placed it in his palm.
His fingers automatically closed around it.
"You wanted to leave."
My voice remained steady.
"So leave."
"Avery, don't make permanent decisions because of one confusing afternoon."
"One confusing afternoon?"
I pointed at Selena.
"You slept with the woman who handled our fertility records."
Mason's face reddened.
"You don't know that."
Selena whispered his name.
"Mason."
He ignored her.
"You don't know anything yet."
"Then let's find out."
I turned to Dr. Porter.
"I want DNA testing."
Mason went completely still.
"Absolutely not."
I looked at him.
It was the fastest answer he'd given all day.
"Why not?"
"Because this is insane."
Luka spoke from behind me.
"Then the test will prove you right."
Mason's eyes burned with hatred.
"This doesn't concern you."
Luka looked at my daughter.
"It might."
Two hours later, samples were taken.
Mine.
My daughter's.
Mason's.
And Luka's.
A private laboratory agreed to perform an expedited initial comparison.
The legal test would take longer.
But we could have preliminary exclusion results within hours.
At 9:43 that night, I sat in my hospital room with my daughter asleep beside me.
Luka stood near the window.
Mason was nowhere to be found.
My phone buzzed.
One new laboratory result.
I opened it.
PATERNITY EXCLUSION.
TESTED MALE: MASON BENNETT.
PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 0.00%.
I stopped breathing.
Luka saw my face.
"Avery?"
I handed him the phone.
He read it.
Then someone knocked on the door.
Mason entered.
He looked at the screen.
May you like
And instead of appearing shocked, my husband closed his eyes.
Like a man whose worst secret had finally caught him.
