Chapter 3 - The Report Everyone Believed
The ambulance ride felt both endless and impossibly fast.
Luke sat against me while a paramedic monitored his breathing. The medication had begun helping, but he remained frightened and exhausted.
Brandon sat across from us.
Cake frosting still stained his shirt.
He had not spoken since we left Madeline’s house.
At the hospital, doctors examined Luke and kept him under observation. They explained that the emotional distress had likely triggered a serious asthma episode.
“He is responding well,” the doctor told us. “We want to watch him for a few hours, but he is stable.”
Only then did I allow myself to cry.
I sat beside Luke’s bed and pressed my forehead against his hand.
Brandon stood near the window.
The envelope remained in his jacket.
“Show me,” I said.
He did not pretend he misunderstood.
“Claire—”
“Whatever your mother showed you, I need to see it.”
He removed the envelope and placed it on the small hospital table.
Inside was a laboratory report.
The first page displayed several official-looking logos and a heading printed in bold letters:
BIOLOGICAL RELATIONSHIP ANALYSIS
Below it were the names Brandon Reed and Luke Reed.
The conclusion appeared at the bottom.
The tested individuals are excluded as biological father and child.
For several seconds, the words did not make sense.
I read them again.
Then a third time.
“This is fake.”
“That was my first thought.”
“Your first thought?”
“I didn’t believe it.”
“You carried it around for two days.”
“My mother gave it to me Thursday night. She said she collected samples from a glass Luke used and a toothbrush from my old bathroom.”
“You let her take our son’s DNA?”
“No. I didn’t know she had done it.”
“But you didn’t tell me.”
“I wanted to arrange another test before I frightened you.”
“Frightened me?”
My voice rose, and Luke shifted in his sleep.
I lowered it again.
“Brandon, did any part of you believe this?”
He looked toward our son.
“I knew there had to be an explanation.”
“That isn’t what I asked.”
His silence answered me.
The pain was not that he had questioned the paper. Any rational person would have questions after seeing a report like that.
The pain was that he had questioned me alone.
“Luke is your son,” I said.
“I know.”
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you tear this apart in front of her?”
“Because it looked real.”
“So did her performance tonight.”
Brandon closed his eyes.
“I failed both of you.”
Before I could answer, my phone began vibrating.
Messages filled the Reed family group chat.
Madeline had photographed the report.
She had sent it to everyone.
Her message read:
I regret that the truth came out in such an upsetting manner, but Brandon deserved to know. I will not apologize for protecting my son.
Several relatives responded with shocked questions.
Others said nothing.
Then Victoria wrote:
Mom, Luke is in the hospital. Delete this.
Madeline replied:
His medical condition does not change the facts.
I stared at those words until the screen blurred.
Brandon took the phone from my hand.
His face changed.
The hesitation disappeared.
He typed one message.
You publicly humiliated a four-year-old child and caused a medical emergency. Do not contact Claire or Luke again. I will arrange an independent test, and when the truth comes out, every person in this family will know what you did.
He left the group chat.
Then he sat beside me.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Not because the report might be wrong. I’m sorry because no piece of paper should have changed how I protected you.”
I looked at Luke.
“We do the test,” I said. “Not for her. For us.”
Brandon nodded.
“And after that?”
May you like
“After that, we find out where this report really came from.”
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