The Paternity Report
Chapter 03 - The Paternity Report
At the hospital, Emma received fluids and an independent examination.
The baby remained healthy.
Nathan sat outside the room because Emma had not invited him inside.
That boundary hurt.
He accepted it.
Dr. Morris later met with both of them and a detective named Serena Ortiz.
Nathan placed the paternity report Margaret had given him on the table.
It stated that prenatal testing excluded him as the biological father.
Dr. Morris examined the laboratory information.
“This clinic does not perform prenatal paternity testing.”
“The logo is here.”
“The address is a mailbox.”
Serena contacted the listed laboratory director. The name belonged to a retired pathologist living in Arizona who had never seen the report.
The document was false.
Emma began crying, but not with relief.
“You believed it.”
Nathan did not defend himself.
“Yes.”
“I asked you to call my doctor.”
“My mother said you changed doctors to hide the results.”
“I changed doctors because hers kept prescribing pills that made me fall.”
The pills from Margaret’s bag contained a sedative and a blood-pressure medication not prescribed to Emma. Together, they could cause dizziness, weakness, and memory gaps.
The bruises were consistent with repeated falls and forceful gripping.
Emma described being confined in the bedroom for four days. Margaret said bed rest had been ordered. The private nurse blocked the door and controlled meals.
Nathan had called twice during that period.
Margaret answered Emma’s phone and said she was sleeping.
He accepted the explanation.
Serena asked about Julian Hayes.
Emma looked at Nathan.
“Julian is a forensic accountant.”
Nathan remembered the photographs of Emma entering a hotel lobby with a man.
“He was helping me investigate your mother.”
The supposed affair had been an audit meeting.
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Margaret did not invent the man.
She changed the meaning of why he was there.
