Chapter 1 - DNA TEST. RIGHT NOW.
Ava Monroe heard Lily cry before she understood what Liam had done.
One second earlier, their daughter had been standing beside the coffee table, one hand gripping the edge for balance.
One year old.
Cream dress.
Barely steady.
Proud of every step.
Liam looked down at her.
His face was not angry in the ordinary way.
It was emptied out.
Then he kicked her.
Not with the force he could have used.
Enough.
Lily toppled sideways onto the rug and hardwood.
Her face collapsed.
“Dada! Dada!”
Ava froze.
Then moved.
She rushed across the room, scooped Lily up, checked her head, her arms, her legs.
“What did you DO?!”
Liam pointed at the baby.
“She’s not mine.”
Ava looked at him.
For half a second the sentence made no sense.
Lily sobbed against her shoulder.
Ava stepped closer.
“What did you say?”
Liam got in her face.
“You cheated.”
Ava’s shock turned into rage.
She slapped him.
“Say it again.”
Liam grabbed his cheek.
Then smirked.
“Cheater.”
Ava stared.
He wanted her humiliated.
Not confused.
Not questioned.
Convicted.
She saw papers on the table.
Grabbed them.
SLAMMED them against his chest.
“You sick bastard.”
Lily cried:
“Mama…”
Liam’s smirk weakened.
Ava pointed directly at him.
“DNA test. RIGHT NOW.”
That was when Liam froze.
Not because he had never considered a test.
Because he already had one.
Three days earlier, he had secretly taken:
a cheek swab from Lily,
a toothbrush from himself,
and submitted both through Davies Genomics, the genetic-testing company he had built with two college friends.
The result arrived that morning.
PATERNITY EXCLUDED.
Zero qualifying paternal relationship.
Liam had stared at it for four hours before Ava came home.
He never called the lab.
Never ordered confirmation.
Never asked his wife.
He decided the paper was truth.
Now Ava demanded a second test.
Official.
Immediate.
Witnessed.
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And for the first time since opening the report, Liam felt something worse than betrayal.
Doubt.
