Chapter 1 - NOW ASK WHO HIS FATHER IS
Ryan Bennett was already standing over Emma’s birthday cake when Claire reached the dining room.
The cake had taken three weeks to design.
Pink castle towers.
Sugar windows.
Tiny white flags.
Emma had chosen every detail.
Ryan lifted the short wooden stick with both hands.
Then brought it down.
The first tower collapsed.
Emma screamed.
“Ryan!”
He laughed and hit the second one.
Pink frosting exploded across the tablecloth.
Guests froze.
One aunt gasped.
Ryan smashed the final tower and pointed the stick toward Emma.
“Crybaby.”
Emma’s face crumpled.
Ryan smirked.
“Go cook with your mom.”
Emma covered her face.
Claire moved.
She crossed the room, pulled Emma behind her, and stepped toward Ryan.
“Don’t you talk to her like that!”
Michael immediately stepped between them.
One arm went across Ryan’s chest.
Protective.
Possessive.
“Leave him alone.”
Claire stared at her husband.
“He just destroyed her birthday cake.”
“He’s thirteen.”
“And she’s ten.”
Michael pulled Ryan closer.
“He’s my real son.”
The room changed.
Claire stopped moving.
Emma lowered her hands.
Michael did not seem to hear how the sentence sounded.
He only looked proud.
Defiant.
As if being male made Ryan more real than the daughter crying behind Claire.
Claire looked at Ryan.
Then back at Michael.
“Your real son?”
“Damn right.”
Claire slapped him.
His head jerked sideways.
Gasps filled the room.
Michael turned back, stunned.
Claire pointed at his chest.
“Your mother and that mistress—”
Michael froze.
Ryan’s smile faded.
Claire reached into her handbag.
“—lead you around like a stupid ox.”
She pulled out a sealed envelope.
LEGAL PARENTAGE TESTING.
She slammed it against Michael’s chest.
He caught it.
Looked down.
Then back at her.
Claire pointed toward Ryan.
“Now ask them who his father is.”
Michael’s face went pale.
Ryan stopped breathing.
Emma stared at her mother.
Michael began opening the envelope.
Claire grabbed his wrist.
“Not here.”
He looked at her.
“You brought it here.”
“I brought it because your mother told me you’d never believe me without paper.”
The room went silent again.
Michael looked toward the doorway.
His mother, Margaret Bennett, was standing there.
Beside her was Vanessa Cole.
Ryan’s mother.
Michael’s former mistress.
Neither woman looked surprised.
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That was when Michael understood the worst part.
They already knew what the envelope said.
