Chapter 161 The Real Daughter

Chapter 161 The Real Daughter
Michael POV

I passed Sarah the one I'd been holding, my fingers tightening around the paper before letting go.

Her eyes darted between the two reports in her hands, scanning and re-scanning, as if sheer disbelief could change the words on the page.

"This… this can't be right," she murmured. "I only gave birth to one child, not twins. How could both children be mine?"

"Lily's report came from the hospital here," I said slowly, careful with each word, "and it shows she's related to both you and me. That's not something they could fake, not with the chain of custody in place. Which means..."

"Ashley's test is the fake one." Sarah's voice sharpened. "But how?"

Her gaze darted from the paper to me. I could see disbelief and hurt battling in her expression. "Sarah, someone's messing with you. Walk me through exactly how you found Ashley and got her tested."

Sarah blinked hard, trying to pull her thoughts into order. "Noah, the director at Sunshine Children's Home, called me. Told me there was a girl whose file matched part of my history. I went to her guardian Anna's house and met Ashley. Jessica came with us when we did the DNA test. The lab was reputable—highly rated. I didn't think there was any chance of a mistake."

"And you said it was supposed to be done in two days?" I pressed. "But there was some… delay?"

"They said equipment failure." She frowned, now seeing the same crack in the story I had. "You think someone used that day to mess with the results?"

"That extra day is all anyone would need if they wanted to tamper with the data."

Her eyes narrowed. "You think someone paid them off?"

"Money can make almost anything possible," I said flatly. "Even in a 'reputable' lab. What matters is the motive. Why fake a paternity report? To what end?" I let the question hang there.

She bit her lip. "Could this be the same person who hired Carmen? The lawyer?"

"It's possible, but this feels different. This is about deception, not violence." My mind flashed to Natalie's smug face at the gala. "This feels more like Natalie's style."

Sarah gave a small, absent-minded nod, her eyes still unfocused as if she were half-lost in the swirl of what we'd just uncovered. I leaned in a little, lowering my voice. "But before we drown in theories... Sarah, this—" I tapped the page in her hand, "—proves Lily is our daughter. That part is real, and no one can take it away from us."

Her gaze dropped almost instinctively, following my gesture down to the report in her lap. Her fingers trembled as she traced the DNA match line, tears sliding down before she could stop them. "She's mine… I almost missed it. My little girl… I should've known her the second I saw her. If I'd been faster, maybe she wouldn't have gone through so much."

A faint sound from the bed made her lift her head. Lily stirred, blinking up at her. "Mommy, don't cry. I'm not hurting anymore."

Sarah gathered her into her arms, pressing her cheek against Lily's hair. "I'm sorry, baby. I love you so much."

"I love you too," Lily whispered. Then, almost shyly, "I love Daddy too."

Linda appeared in the doorway. "How's our little patient?" She stepped closer, glancing between us and the papers scattered on the bedside table. Her voice dropped to a whisper. "And the DNA results?"

I met her eyes. "Lily is Sarah's biological daughter."

Linda's gaze shifted to Sarah, searching her face for confirmation. Sarah nodded, tears still fresh on her cheeks.

Linda's face went from tense anticipation to overwhelming relief, then quickly shifted to deep guilt and regret. She sank into the chair beside the bed. "So it's true... it's really true. Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry..." She reached out to touch Lily's hand, sobbing. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. I thought I was doing what was best. Grandma and Mommy should've fought harder to keep you with us."

Lily looked between them, puzzled. "But you're my mommy and grandma. You always be."

Linda let out a shaky laugh through her tears, brushing at her damp cheeks as she lifted her head toward Sarah. "What about Ashley now?"

Sarah straightened, wiping her cheeks. "I'll call Anna. Tell her the truth and have her take Ashley back."

I rose to my feet. "You go ahead and make that call. In the meantime, I'll head over to the facility and check things out."

"Be careful," she told me.

---

The lab was tucked into a sterile office park, glass doors giving way to a reception area that smelled faintly of disinfectant and printer toner. A polite but guarded receptionist confirmed the equipment issue had actually happened. A specialist team had even come in yesterday to investigate.

She turned her monitor toward me. "We logged all visitor activity during the inspection."

A grainy camera feed from the front entrance filled the screen. My pulse kicked when I spotted Natalie among a group of people in lab coats.

"She was part of the expert team?" I asked.

"Yes," the receptionist said. "She's the Chief Quality Officer. Came in to ensure the malfunction didn't compromise any data accuracy."

"Chief Quality Officer?" I repeated. That was news to me.

"She spent hours in the server room," the receptionist added, clicking through a security log. "Here—see for yourself."

There she was, in a white lab coat over designer heels, standing at a terminal, scrolling rapidly, plugging in drives, pausing only to check her phone.

"What exactly was she doing?" I asked.

"Reviewing affected files. Making sure no erroneous results left the lab. She said it was about protecting our reputation."

Reputation. Sure. I knew better.

I kept my tone even. "Show me the files she reviewed."

The woman hesitated, fingers hovering over her keyboard. "Those logs are restricted—"

I slid a business card across the counter, letting her read the embossed title without another word. Her eyes flicked from the card back to me. The pause didn't last long. With a resigned nod, she pulled up a list of file IDs and timestamps.

There were dozens of routine cases… and Ashley Madison's report, opened multiple times, edited, and saved under a new timestamp. The altered values were obvious.

She wasn't fixing mistakes. She was making certain one specific result would never see daylight. And she'd succeeded.

Back outside, I dialed Sarah.

"It was her," I said as soon as she picked up. "Natalie got into their systems during the so-called delay. She altered Ashley's data."

Silence, then a sharp inhale. "She—God. Okay. So what now?"

"I'm going to Sunshine Children's Home. Need to talk to Noah, find out if someone deliberately placed Ashley with you."

"I agree," she said after a moment. "Anna's already at the hospital. We're about to have a conversation about Ashley."

"You want me to come back and sit in?"

"No. I got this." Her voice steadied. "Go see Noah. We need answers from both ends."

I smiled faintly despite the tension. "Watch your back."

"You too."