Chapter 83
Two of them rushed to the hospital and followed the directions Paxton had given them to a small office at the far end of the hallway.
"You finally made it. I thought I'd be stuck here waiting forever." Paxton looked up when the door opened, barely surprised to see Victoria. He even added a teasing remark: “I didn’t interrupt anything important between you two, I hope?”
The way he said it definitely carried a suggestive edge.
Victoria pressed her lips together, not in the mood to blush.
On the phone, you said there was a problem with the DNA test. What exactly happened?”
Her expression tightened. "Does it have anything to do with Yara?"
If it had nothing to do with Yara, that would be the best‑case scenario. She would rather take the hit herself than let anything threaten Yara.
“Actually, it doesn’t have much to do with her.”
Paxton paused for a couple of seconds, as if offering her a tiny bit of emotional cushioning. "The issue came from the results and Edward's DNA data. It doesn't affect either of them physically. But the results may be wrong, so I needed you two to come."
He grabbed a sheet of paper from beside him and slid it toward them. "This is the comparison I just ran. Take a look. If anything looks confusing, ask."
The black‑and‑white numbers lined the page clearly.
Victoria had spent enough days in hospitals with her injured hand to understand at least some of the technical terms. Still, she skipped all the dense explanations and went straight to the final line.
Confirmed: no genetic relation existed between the two samples.
Looked normal enough, If she ignored the fact that both samples were supposed to have come from the same person.
"If both belonged to Edward, it wouldn't look like this."
Paxton tapped the conclusion. "There's only one possibility. The previous DNA test had nothing to do with him. It compared Yara with someone completely unrelated. Of course, the result was useless."
The words struck like a thunderclap. Silence followed, heavy and stunned.
Victoria blinked so fast her lashes practically trembled.
Did that mean there was a real chance Yara could be Edward's child?
And if that were true, would she lose custody?
Even when she was locked in a legal fight with Aiden, even when everything had been hanging by a thread, she had never felt this lost.
This was Edward. Someone, Aiden, couldn't catch even if he rode a horse down ten city blocks.
If Edward truly wanted custody, she had no chance.
Worry seeped into her lungs until it felt like every breath was tight. She almost missed the rest of their conversation entirely.
"So? What's your suggestion?" Edward finally lifted his eyes from the paper, his voice terrifyingly calm. "You dragged me here, so I assume there's more."
The upward tilt of his tone carried a quiet, dangerous warning.
"There is, actually." Paxton raised both hands lightly. "I just want to run a new DNA test for you and Yara. But no one else can know. And obviously, I need your consent to do it, that's why I called you here."
He said it with an air of righteous responsibility, even though he was clearly dying of curiosity.
Edward saw right through him and let out a short, humorless laugh. "I'll agree. But on one condition."
His gaze swept the office lazily. "I think there's a leak in this hospital. While we do this, I want you to watch for anything suspicious. I want everything cleaned out."
A cold command slid beneath his words, enough to make the room dip a few degrees.
Victoria stood silently beside them, not daring to interrupt.
Edward agreed—just like that—to run another test with Yara?
If Yara turned out to be from the Windsor family… would she have to let her go?
Victoria asked herself that question, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find an answer.
When Edward wrapped up the conversation, he turned and immediately noticed her dazed expression.
"If anything else comes up, call me. I'm leaving," he said, and then added as he walked past her, voice low and cool, "Aren't you coming?"
The words snapped Victoria back to reality. Her mind was still lagging behind, but her feet followed him automatically.
They walked down the corridor one behind the other, neither speaking.
Victoria's thoughts twisted in knots, and every time she tried to ask something, the words seemed wrong before they even formed.
"You want to ask me something." Edward spoke so suddenly she almost jumped.
It sounded like a question, but he stated it as a fact.
"I do… there is something," she admitted after a moment, giving in to her own anxiety. "If Yara really turns out to be your daughter… would you want to take her back to the Windsor family?"
Her voice shook, thin with nerves.
Her wide almond eyes lifted to him, bright and soft, like someone looking for hope they weren't sure they deserved.
Edward's throat worked once before he answered.
"Yes." His reply came without hesitation. "She carries the Windsor bloodline. I'm not going to let her just live out there."
Victoria's gaze dimmed instantly.
Of course. Families like his never let their own blood go.
It seemed she still...
Her thought didn't even finish before Edward's voice cut in again, cool but strangely patient. "I think you misunderstood."
He looked down at her, and for once, there was a trace of helplessness on his face.
He explained himself more gently than he had ever spoken to any woman. "I'm not a kidnapper. If she returns to the Windsor family, you're obviously coming with her. I'm not interested in snatching someone else's child. Relax."
Was that really how she saw him? Some power‑hungry villain who would throw her away the instant he got what he wanted?
"That's not what I meant," Victoria whispered, though the guilt in her tone made it sound like exactly what she meant.
And yet—relief spread through her so quickly it loosened her shoulders, her breath, even her voice.
As long as Yara stayed with her, nothing else mattered.
She didn't even notice how visibly she relaxed after his reassuring words, or how much lighter her tone had become almost at once.
Edward looked away, letting the moment pass.
Women who said one thing and meant another…
He honestly didn't know how she had survived this long.