Chapter 2 - The Blood Test
The drive to the Caruso estate felt like a journey into another universe.
Every streetlamp we passed cast fleeting shadows across Damian’s intensely focused face.
Leah had fallen completely asleep against my chest, her tiny breaths warm on my collarbone.
I hadn't held a child like this since the day my entire world collapsed into darkness.
The heavy iron gates of a sprawling mansion loomed ahead, parting silently to let our convoy inside.
Armed guards patrolled the perimeter, their silhouettes moving stealthily through the manicured gardens.
Damian stepped out of the vehicle first, holding the door open for me with surprising gentleness.
"Follow me," he instructed, leading the way into a foyer that looked like a European palace.
Everything was covered in marble, gold, and the overwhelming scent of old money.
I held Leah tightly, terrified that someone would suddenly rip her away from me again.
We entered a massive library where an older man with a medical bag was already waiting.
"Dr. Aris, I need a rapid DNA test done immediately," Damian ordered, leaving no room for questions.
The doctor looked at me, then at the sleeping child in my arms, and nodded professionally.
"Of course, Mr. Caruso. I just need a quick swab from both the child and the young woman."
My hands started to shake violently as the reality of the situation finally crashed down on me.
If Leah was my daughter, it meant my grief had been a manufactured lie.
It meant the ashes I had cried over for two years belonged to a complete stranger.
Dr. Aris gently swabbed the inside of Leah's cheek, careful not to wake her from her peaceful slumber.
Then, he handed me a sterile swab and instructed me to do the same.
I dragged the cotton across my inner cheek, praying to a God I hadn't spoken to in years.
Damian poured himself a glass of amber liquid from a crystal decanter, his knuckles white around the glass.
"How long until we have the results?" Damian demanded, staring out the massive bay window.
"I brought the portable sequencer from the lab, so it will take exactly two hours," Dr. Aris replied.
"Wait in the hall, Doctor," Damian said dismissively, never taking his eyes off the dark landscape outside.
Once we were alone, the heavy silence of the library pressed down on my shoulders.
I sat on a plush velvet sofa, gently rocking Leah, entirely unable to tear my eyes away from her face.
"Tell me about the night she was born," Damian commanded softly, turning to face me.
I swallowed the lump in my throat, forcing myself to revisit the most traumatic night of my life.
"I went into labor early, and the nurses rushed me into an emergency cesarean section," I began.
"I remember waking up hours later, groggy from the anesthesia, asking to hold my baby."
Tears blurred my vision as the cold, clinical memory played out in my mind.
"A doctor named Dr. Vance came in, looking incredibly solemn, and told me there was a severe heart defect."
"He said she didn't make it through the night."
Damian’s glass shattered in his hand, the sharp crack echoing violently in the quiet room.
He didn't even flinch as the expensive alcohol and blood dripped onto the Persian rug.
"Dr. Vance," Damian repeated, his voice dropping to a terrifying, lethal whisper.
"He is the exact same doctor who handled my wife's emergency delivery."
A chill ran down my spine, freezing the blood in my veins.
It wasn't a coincidence.
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It was a calculated, horrific crime.
We were two victims of a monstrous conspiracy, and the truth was about to blow our lives wide open.
