Chapter 215 Doubts....

Chapter 215 Doubts....
The morning sun spilled golden light across the polished hardwood floors of the Lockhart estate, bringing with it the bright, chaotic energy of a new week.

Kristy packed her overnight bag early that morning, bidding a fond farewell to the couple after they finally enjoyed a quiet, uninterrupted night to themselves. With baby Sunny peacefully returned to his parents' custody and sleeping soundly in his nursery crib, the house settled back into its luxurious, protected rhythm.

Except for one very important resident who was staging a quiet, highly stubborn rebellion.

Upstairs in the grand hallway, Elisa stood with her hands on her hips, staring down at Andrew. The young master was dressed immaculately in his private school uniform, complete with a pressed blazer and neatly tied shoes. But his backpack was unzipped on the floor, his arms were crossed tightly over his chest, and his lower lip was jutting out in a furious pout.

"I am not going," Andrew announced, his voice ringing with absolute, unyielding defiance. "My presence is required at home. Someone has to monitor baby Sunny’s nap schedule and ensure the butler isn't feeding him improper corporate data. Education can wait."

Elisa crossed her arms as well, offering him an amused, knowing smile. She leaned down slightly to meet his stubborn gaze.

"Is that so?" Elisa teased gently. "And here I thought you were just trying to get out of your math test."

"It's a matter of security, Elisa," Andrew argued, tapping his chest importantly. "I am his official bodyguard. A bodyguard does not abandon his post for fractions and spelling bees."

"Andrew," Elisa sighed, though her eyes danced with laughter. She crouched down to his eye level and lowered her voice into a conspiratorial whisper. "Let me ask you something. How on earth are you going to walk into your classroom today and brag to all your friends that you have the coolest new baby brother in the entire city... if you aren't even there to tell them?"

Andrew blinked. His mouth opened slightly. The fierce, defensive armor around his little shoulders instantly began to crack.

"Well..." Andrew hesitated, his eyes darting toward the ceiling as his brain rapidly processed the social implications. "They do need to know that he rejected grandpa Arthur's holding privileges."

"Exactly," Elisa nodded, patting his shoulder with a warm, encouraging smile. "So, you are going to go to school, you are going to ace your classes, and at recess, you can tell everyone all about Sunny. Deal?"

Andrew let out a dramatic, heavy sigh, picking up his backpack and swinging it over one shoulder with the reluctance of a general heading into exile.

"Fine," Andrew muttered, marching toward the grand staircase. "But if Sunny learns how to crawl during my second-period history, I'm holding you and dad personally responsible."

The grand estate was finally quiet. After seeing young Andrew off to school with his backpack slung over his shoulder and his dramatic complaints about missing his baby brother, Elisa felt a gentle wave of peace wash over her. 
She was finally at ease that Andrew was back to his old self. She hadn't known what made Andrew suddenly cold to her and his father before the birth of Sunny but whatever it was, was gone. Or so she thought. 

She walked back upstairs to the nursery, where little Sunny was sleeping soundly in his crib. His tiny chest rose and fell in a steady, peaceful rhythm, his soft breathing the only sound in the warm, sunlit room.

Elisa brushed a gentle finger over his chubby cheek, smiling to herself. Ridge was somewhere in the master wing, probably in the bathroom getting ready for his morning calls, though she wasn't entirely sure.

As she stood there, a sudden thought crossed her mind. Yesterday, right before the wedding reception ended, her parents had left behind a stack of high-society gifts on the foyer table. Later on, the estate staff had moved all of those wedding gifts directly into Ridge’s private study down the hall.

Curiosity began to tug at Elisa’s mind. She wanted to see what her parents had given them. Was it a traditional family heirloom? A sharp note? Or just another expensive luxury item they didn't really need?

She quietly stepped out of the nursery and walked down the polished corridor toward Ridge’s study.

The heavy double doors of the study were closed, but they weren't locked. Elisa reached out to push them open, but suddenly, an odd sensation hit her. A strange tug-of-war started deep inside her chest. One part of her mind,a quiet, cautious voice whispered for her to turn right back around. This is Ridge’s private workspace, the voice warned. Leave it alone. But an invisible, pulling force pushed her forward, whispering that she had every right to look for her own parents' gift. Without quite knowing why, she gave the heavy door a gentle push and stepped inside.

Elisa had never set foot inside this part of the mansion. It was almost a full year since she had first arrived at the estate as a terrified captive running from her father, and yet this room had remained a forbidden territory.

When she finally looked around, her breath caught.

This was the very room where Ridge used to spend his endless, brutal nights when he still suffered from severe insomnia. She had always imagined it as a dark, cold, intimidating dungeon filled with shadows and screens monitoring the criminal underworld.

Instead, it was breathtaking.

Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls, packed with thick, leather-bound volumes and stacks of reference books. Rich mahogany woodwork caught the morning sunlight pouring through tall, arched windows, casting a warm, golden glow across the room. It was quiet, peaceful, and smelled faintly of paper, cedarwood, and the subtle trace of Ridge’s cologne.

Neat stacks of files and corporate portfolios sat on the massive executive desk, arranged with absolute precision. But as Elisa walked deeper into the room, looking for the gift boxes left by the Lee family, her eyes caught something else.

Near the edge of a tall filing cabinet, a thick manila folder was perched precariously on top of a stack. It looked unstable, teetering slightly as if a gentle breeze or a heavy footstep could send it crashing to the floor at any second.

Elisa pushed the thought aside and began scanning the corner where the wedding gifts were piled high with silver ribbons and elegant wrapping paper. She searched through the boxes, looking for her parents' familiar handwriting on a card.

Suddenly—thud.

Whether it was a draft from the hallway or just bad luck, the unsteady stack shifted. The big brown manila envelope perched on the edge lost its balance and tumbled off the top of the stack, hitting the hardwood floor with a heavy slap. Papers spilled out of the open flap, scattering across the rug right at Elisa’s feet.

Elisa froze. She bent down immediately to pick up the fallen papers, fully intending to shove them back into the envelope and pretend she had never touched them.

She would have ignored it completely. She really would have.

If not for the words staring up at her from the top sheet of paper.

Her own name.

Elisa Lee.

Elisa’s fingers hovered over the page. A cold shiver crawled up the back of her neck, turning her blood instantly to ice. She pulled the paper closer, her eyes scanning the bold, official headers.

It wasn't a corporate document. It wasn't a shipping manifest or a security report.

It was a medical lab report. A genetic sequencing analysis.

A DNA test result.

Elisa let out a sharp, breathless gasp. Her hands began to shake violently as she picked up the subsequent pages, her eyes racing across the medical terminology and data charts.

The dates hit her like a physical blow to the chest.

This test hadn't been run yesterday. It hadn't been run after the baby was born.

It was ordered months ago—back when she was still pregnant, weak.

Ridge had secretly carried out a paternity test while she was still carrying Sunny inside her womb.

“Ridge isn't a man capable of love especially not after he lost his former wife, you are just a replacement and you'll never receive the same love she got. A replacement, that's all you'll ever be Miss Lee.”

The stranger’s cruel, laughing voice suddenly echoed in the dark corners of her memory, flashing back from the hospital. She had dismissed it as syndicate lies, a sick psychological trick meant to break her spirit.

But here it was. Black and white. Cold, hard, undeniable physical proof.

Ridge hadn't just trusted her. Behind closed doors, while holding her hand and kissing her forehead, he had quietly questioned whether the child growing inside her actually belonged to him. He had doubted her loyalty. He had tested the blood of an unborn baby just to make sure he wasn't being fooled by an enemy's heir.

Elisa’s entire body went completely numb. The warm, golden sunlight streaming through the study windows suddenly felt freezing cold. The beautiful books, the peaceful quiet, the romantic memories of the wedding night,it all shattered into a million rough pieces in a single second.

She stood frozen in the center of the room, clutching the papers against her chest, unable to draw a proper breath as the brutal, horrifying reality washed over her soul.