CHAPTER 6 — The Blood Test
CHAPTER 6 — The Blood Test
The next morning began with hope.
Emma's latest scans showed improvement.
The tumors had shrunk slightly.
Doctors allowed themselves cautious optimism.
Lila hugged every nurse on the floor.
Jonathan happened to arrive carrying a stuffed giraffe nearly taller than Emma.
She laughed so hard that even the oncologist smiled.
"You spoil her," Lila teased.
Jonathan shrugged.
"I missed twelve birthdays."
Emma tilted her head.
"So you'll stay for the next twelve?"
Jonathan smiled.
"If your mother allows it."
For a brief moment, life felt normal.
Then Dr. Rebecca Collins approached quietly.
"Mr. Mercer."
"I need to speak with both of you."
Something in her expression erased every smile.
Inside a private consultation room, Dr. Collins placed a medical file on the table.
"I almost dismissed this as a paperwork error."
Jonathan frowned.
"What is it?"
"When Emma was admitted, routine genetic markers were entered into our research database."
She hesitated.
"Yesterday your company's new AI matching system flagged an unusual result."
Lila looked confused.
"I don't understand."
Dr. Collins slowly turned the monitor toward them.
A family relationship chart appeared.
At the top:
Jonathan Mercer
At the bottom:
Emma Hart
Relationship Probability:
99.96% Biological Relative
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Jonathan stared at the screen without blinking.
"There has to be a mistake."
"We repeated the analysis twice."
Dr. Collins answered carefully.
"The result never changed."
Lila stood abruptly.
"No."
"No."
"That's impossible."
Jonathan looked equally stunned.
"I have never..."
He couldn't finish the sentence.
Dr. Collins quickly intervened.
"The report does not necessarily indicate parentage."
Jonathan looked up.
"What do you mean?"
"It only confirms an extremely close biological relationship."
She took a slow breath.
"It could also indicate..."
"...uncle."
"...niece."
"...or another very close familial connection."
Lila looked at Jonathan with terrified confusion.
Neither of them understood.
Before anyone could speak again, Marcus rushed into the room holding another folder.
His face had gone pale.
"I've identified Victor Kane's last known business partners."
Jonathan barely heard him.
"What?"
Marcus laid several photographs across the table.
One photograph showed Victor Kane shaking hands with a much younger businessman.
Jonathan recognized him instantly.
His own late father.
William Mercer.
The room became deathly quiet.
Marcus swallowed.
"There is something else."
He revealed one final document recovered from a federal archive.
It was heavily redacted.
Across the top, in bold letters:
CONFIDENTIAL PATERNITY INVESTIGATION
Below it...
Two names.
William Mercer
Lila Hart
Jonathan slowly looked toward Lila.
Lila looked back at him.
Neither of them wanted to say the thought forming in their minds.
Finally Jonathan whispered it.
"My father..."
"...might have been your father too."
Lila's knees gave way.
Jonathan caught her before she hit the floor.
Across the hallway, unnoticed by everyone inside the room, Victor Kane's informant lowered a tiny listening device from beneath the conference table.
He smiled.
The Mercer family had finally discovered the truth.
But they still didn't know the most devastating secret.
William Mercer had never been Victor Kane's partner.
He had been trying to expose him.
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And twelve years ago...
Someone much closer to Jonathan had betrayed them both.
