Chapter 92: Chapter 0092

•CLYDE•

"Can we talk about the elephant in the room, please?" Daphne pointed at her bodyguard with her eyes when she got to my house to bring Annabelle over for the weekend.

I took Annabelle's bag from her and rolled my eyes. "We talked about this. This is for your safety and Annabelle's."

"If you're so worried about us, why don't we move in?" She suggested as we headed to the living room while my housekeeper took Annabelle to prepare her lunch in the kitchen.

"Move in? Maybe we can discuss that after these DNA tests." I took the swabs from the counter and gave them to her.

I planned to conduct two DNA tests in case Daphne contaminated them.

Though Natasha advised me to do the opposite of what I had initially planned, I didn't want to lure Daphne into my life. She was the worst woman I could pretend to be with.

She would make my life hell, and I didn't want to make her believe that what she did to me six years ago was forgivable.

I wanted to find out if Annabelle isn't my child and move on, but if she was mine, I hoped to get sole custody of her and avoid exposing her to her mother's boyfriends.

"What?" Daphne gasped when she saw the swab package.

"These are swabs for DNA tests with Annabelle. I want her swabs and yours."

"Clyde?" She fumed. "I raised my baby alone for four years because you left and blocked me everywhere. Do you know what I went through raising her alone?!" she snapped. "You have no right to stand here and question the paternity of your child! Motherfucker, you came inside me!"

"Lanny did too." I leaned closer to her, convinced without a doubt that she was pregnant with his child. "Annabelle could be his, and until I know the truth, I won't let this go.”

It made no sense to me why he would come knocking on her apartment and ask about Annabelle if he had never been told he was the father.

"I was loyal to you, Clyde. You spent more time at your firm with your clients and hardly had time for me, but I would never lie about Annabelle's paternity. She's yours, and I know that."

"I was working, Daphne!" I snapped. "Everything I did was for us, so we would have a good life. But if you're blaming me for your affair with my best friend, I would let you on one condition. Do the tests and prove to me that Annabelle is mine."

"It's been two years since you've known about Annabelle. What has changed? Did your whoring girlfriend put you up to this?" she retorted.

"Don't you dare talk about Natasha like that when I found you in bed with Lanny!" I pointed my finger at her. "You should be ashamed of yourself for sleeping with another man in my bed!"

"So, it is because of her," she scoffed. "I knew she put you up to this. She got into your head because she wanted to turn you against a child you've bonded with for years. How do you think Annabelle will feel when she finds out about this after you've proven she's your daughter?"

"I wonder what she would think about you sleeping with my best friend during the time Daphne fell pregnant. She's the one who asked me about Lanny because he came to your apartment and asked about her."

"Gosh," she groaned, pacing as she placed her hand on her head. "I see what Lanny wanted to do. He wanted to cause a fight between us. You must believe me.” She looked at me. "You are Annabelle's father, and I would never lie to you."

"Are we doing the tests?"

Daphne stared at me, almost as if she were thinking of the worst possible thing she could do to end my life at that instant.

"If they will make you sleep at night, I'll do them. Just so you know, if Annabelle is yours, I won't let you see her for a month."

"And if she's not mine?"

She groaned and was about to answer when Annabelle entered the living room.

"Daddy, Daddy!" She squealed, running toward me. "Are we going to Disney again?"

"Disney?" I looked at her and her mother before picking her up into my arms. "I thought we would go to Disney again on your seventh birthday in a few months."

"Okay," she smiled, resting her head on my shoulder.

Later that evening, Daphne and I glared at Annabelle's sleeping face, knowing it was our only chance of taking the swabs without explaining what they were about.

"This is wrong, Clyde. You'll hurt my little baby, and I can't let you. We can't sneak around her while she's sleeping because her daddy doubts she's his daughter."

I loved Annabelle, but if there was a possibility that he wasn't mine, then I needed to know.

Daphne and I had taken swabs and needed Annabelle's before I could send them to the lab.

I took a swab from her and gently scrubbed it around Anna's open mouth. I released a sigh of relief when I realized I hadn't woken her up.

"That was easy, wasn't it?" I took the swabs from her. "Your driver is waiting to take you home. I'll bring Annabelle first in the morning on Monday, and don't call me until she's home with you. Do you understand?"

"When will they be out?" She looked at the swabs in my hands.

"You shouldn't worry about that if you believe I'm the father." I walked past her and went to my room.

I locked the door and sat on the bed when I received a text from Natasha.

Text: "The DNA test results are back. Please come to my place in the morning. I'd like to share them with you, and good night. I love you."