Chapter 5: The Impossible Truth
Chapter 5: The Impossible Truth
The rain returned to Providence three days later.
Dark clouds hung low over the harbor as Daniel Carver stood in his private office, staring at the old photograph he had found inside the forgotten ledger. Four men. Four partners. One empire built on secrets.
A knock interrupted his thoughts.
"Come in."
Marcus entered carrying a sealed manila envelope.
"It came by courier an hour ago."
Daniel looked up.
"No return address?"
Marcus shook his head.
"Only your name."
Daniel accepted the envelope.
It was unusually thin.
No company logo.
No postage stamp.
Someone had paid a private courier to deliver it by hand.
On the front, a single sentence had been typed in black ink.
You are protecting her without knowing why.
Daniel frowned.
"What is this?"
"I don't know," Marcus replied. "We checked the courier. He was paid in cash."
Daniel carefully broke the seal.
Inside were three items.
A laboratory report.
A flash drive.
And a handwritten note.
His eyes fell on the note first.
"If you want the truth about Aaron Brooks, start by learning the truth about the child Hannah is carrying."
For several long seconds, Daniel simply stared at the words.
Then he picked up the report.
At the top of the page appeared the logo of a private genetics laboratory.
Below it, one line immediately caught his attention.
CONFIDENTIAL PATERNITY ANALYSIS
His expression hardened.
"What the hell..."
Marcus stepped closer.
"Is it real?"
Daniel continued reading.
The report listed three names.
Mother: Hannah Brooks.
Fetal Sample: Prenatal DNA.
Alleged Father: Daniel Michael Carver.
His pulse slowed.
No.
That was impossible.
He looked again.
Surely he had misread it.
At the bottom of the page, printed in bold letters, was the conclusion.
Probability of paternity: 99.9987%.
The room fell completely silent.
Marcus stared at Daniel's face.
"What is it?"
Daniel handed him the report without speaking.
Marcus read the final line.
His eyes widened.
"No..."
He looked back at Daniel.
"This has to be fake."
Daniel said nothing.
He couldn't.
There was only one thought echoing through his mind.
I've never been with Hannah Brooks.
Across town...
Hannah sat quietly in the small guest cottage behind the Carver mansion.
Dr. Abrams had ordered complete bed rest, so Martin had insisted she stay somewhere closer to medical care than the servants' quarters.
Ben sat cross-legged on the rug, building a castle out of wooden blocks.
He looked up.
"When the baby's born, can I teach them how to play chess?"
Hannah smiled.
"If you're patient."
"I can be patient."
He thought for a moment.
"Well... sometimes."
She laughed softly.
It felt good.
Normal.
For the first time in months.
A gentle knock sounded at the door.
Martin entered carrying fresh tea.
"Someone left this outside."
He handed Hannah a plain white envelope.
"No name."
She opened it carefully.
Inside was only a single photograph.
Her smile disappeared.
It showed Aaron.
Taken only days before his death.
He was arguing with an unidentified man outside Warehouse Twelve.
On the back of the photograph someone had written:
He died because he asked the wrong question.
Hannah's hands began to tremble.
Meanwhile...
Daniel had not moved.
The DNA report still lay open on his desk.
Marcus finally broke the silence.
"We should verify it."
Daniel nodded slowly.
"I already intend to."
"The report could be forged."
"It could."
Marcus hesitated.
"But if it isn't..."
Daniel looked at him sharply.
"It is impossible."
"Unless we're missing something."
Daniel stood.
"I don't gamble with lives."
He picked up the phone.
"Get Dr. Abrams."
An hour later...
The elderly physician entered Daniel's office.
"You sounded concerned."
Daniel silently handed him the report.
Dr. Abrams adjusted his glasses.
The color slowly left his face.
"Where did you get this?"
"It arrived anonymously."
The doctor read every page twice.
Then he looked up.
"This laboratory is legitimate."
"So the report is real?"
"I didn't say that."
"But the laboratory exists."
"Yes."
"And the signatures?"
"They appear authentic."
Daniel folded his arms.
"Explain."
Dr. Abrams sighed.
"Prenatal DNA testing is possible."
"I know."
"But samples can be mislabeled."
"So it could be a mistake."
"It could."
Daniel noticed something.
The doctor's voice lacked conviction.
"You don't believe that."
Abrams remained silent.
Daniel stepped closer.
"What aren't you telling me?"
The physician hesitated.
Finally he spoke.
"Three months ago..."
He paused.
"...someone requested a confidential paternity consultation."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"Who?"
"I can't tell you."
"You can."
"No."
Daniel's voice became dangerously calm.
"A woman's life may depend on this."
Dr. Abrams looked away.
"It was Hannah."
Daniel froze.
"What?"
"She came alone."
The words struck him like a blow.
"She never mentioned the father's name."
"Did she believe Aaron wasn't the father?"
"I don't know."
"What happened?"
Dr. Abrams slowly sat down.
"She changed her mind."
"Meaning?"
"She refused the test."
Daniel stared at him.
"Then where did this report come from?"
"I don't know."
Later that evening...
Unable to ignore the questions any longer, Daniel drove to the guest cottage.
He found Hannah sitting on the porch, wrapped in a blanket as she watched the rain.
She smiled faintly.
"I thought you'd still be working."
"I need to ask you something."
His voice sounded different.
More uncertain.
She noticed immediately.
"What happened?"
Daniel sat across from her.
"Were you ever tested for the baby's paternity?"
The question caught her completely off guard.
"What?"
"Answer me."
She frowned.
"Why?"
"Please."
She looked down at her hands.
"...I considered it."
"When?"
"After Aaron died."
"Why?"
"Because..."
Her voice trembled.
"...nothing made sense anymore."
Daniel waited.
She swallowed hard.
"Aaron had been away on a maintenance contract for weeks before I found out I was pregnant."
He said nothing.
"When I counted the dates..."
A tear rolled down her cheek.
"...I became confused."
"You never told anyone?"
"I couldn't."
She laughed bitterly.
"My husband was dead."
"I was grieving."
"I hated myself for even questioning it."
"So I canceled the appointment."
Daniel felt his heartbeat quicken.
"You never took the test?"
"No."
"I couldn't bear the answer."
Silence stretched between them.
Finally Hannah whispered,
"Why are you asking me this?"
Daniel reached into his coat.
Slowly...
He placed the anonymous DNA report on the table between them.
Hannah looked down.
Her face turned white.
"No..."
She picked up the paper with shaking hands.
The words blurred before her eyes.
Probability of paternity: 99.9987%.
The report slipped from her fingers.
"This..."
Her breathing became uneven.
"This can't be real."
"I know."
"I've never..."
She looked at Daniel in complete disbelief.
"I don't understand."
Neither did he.
Because Daniel Carver was absolutely certain of one thing.
He had never shared a single intimate moment with Hannah Brooks.
At least...
Not one he could remember.
Across the city...
Inside an abandoned warehouse near Dock Seven, a dim light flickered in a hidden underground room.
A thin, exhausted man sat chained to a rusted pipe.
His beard had grown long.
His clothes hung loosely from his body.
Yet his eyes remained fiercely alive.
Caleb Monroe.
He heard footsteps above him.
A steel door creaked open.
A shadow descended the stairs.
The visitor smiled coldly.
"The DNA report reached Daniel."
Caleb's eyes widened.
"You..."
The stranger crouched beside him.
"Now he'll start asking the wrong questions."
Caleb struggled against his chains.
"Leave my sister alone."
The man only smiled.
"Oh, I intend to bring your family together."
He stood and switched off the light.
"But first..."
The darkness swallowed the room.
May you like
"...Daniel Carver must remember the night he forgot."
End of Chapter 5
