Chapter 2 - The Test Rocky Feared
Daniel didn’t hit his father.
That almost made the silence worse.
He walked past Rocky without taking his eyes off him and crouched beside Emma.
“Sweetheart.”
Emma backed into Maya.
Daniel froze.
His daughter had never backed away from him before.
“Emma?”
Her lower lip trembled.
“Grandpa said you know.”
Daniel looked up.
“Know what?”
“That I’m not yours.”
Something changed in his face.
Not anger.
Confusion.
Rocky spoke quickly.
“She’s upset. Children misunderstand things.”
Maya laughed once.
It sounded broken.
“She misunderstood eating out of a dog bowl?”
Daniel saw the bone.
His jaw tightened.
Then he noticed Maya’s forehead.
“Dad.”
One word.
Low.
Dangerous.
Rocky straightened his cardigan.
“Your wife attacked me first.”
“She slapped you because you fed our daughter like an animal.”
“She is not—”
“Finish that sentence.”
Rocky stopped.
Daniel rose slowly.
Emma held Maya’s leg while Maya pressed a napkin against her cut.
Daniel pointed toward the hallway.
“Get out.”
“This is my house.”
“No. It was Mom’s house.”
Rocky’s expression flickered.
Just for half a second.
Maya saw it.
Daniel saw it too.
Rocky recovered quickly.
“And she left it to me.”
Daniel stared at him.
“Did she?”
Now Rocky’s eyes dropped toward the envelope on the floor.
Maya followed his gaze.
WESTFIELD GENETICS LAB.
She looked at Daniel.
“What is that?”
Rocky answered before Daniel could.
“Nothing.”
Daniel bent down and picked it up.
His father moved toward him.
“Daniel.”
That was the first time Maya heard fear in Rocky’s voice.
Daniel stepped back.
“I found something in Mom’s safe-deposit box.”
Rocky went completely still.
“What box?”
“The one you told me didn’t exist.”
Rocky’s face drained.
Maya’s pulse quickened.
Daniel turned to her.
“Three days ago the bank called me. They were closing an old account in Mom’s name. There was a safe-deposit box attached to it.”
“And?”
“There were letters.”
Rocky interrupted.
“Your mother was sick at the end. She wrote nonsense.”
Daniel ignored him.
“There was also a receipt from a genetics laboratory dated five years ago.”
Maya’s breath caught.
Five years.
Emma was five.
Rocky stepped forward.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Daniel’s eyes hardened.
“That’s why I went to the lab myself.”
Rocky suddenly lunged for the envelope.
Daniel jerked it away.
And that desperate movement told Maya more than any confession could have.
Rocky wasn’t afraid of a test.
He was afraid of what it proved.
Then Emma whispered something from behind Maya.
“Mommy… Grandpa took papers from Daddy’s office yesterday.”
Maya turned.
“What papers?”
Emma pointed toward Rocky.
“The ones with Grandma Evelyn’s picture.”
Rocky stared at the child.
And Maya finally understood.
May you like
This wasn’t only about whether Emma belonged to the family.
It was about something Rocky believed belonged to him.
