The Paternity Lie

When I took Leo for his annual physical, the nurse mentioned he was charting a little short and suggested we look into his growth development.

I immediately booked an appointment at a pediatric growth clinic. When the results came back, the doctor looked at me, perplexed. Are you absolutely sure Leo is six years old?

I blinked. "Yes. His birthday was just a few weeks ago."

The doctor pointed to the X-rays. "His bone age indicates he's closer to five."

"I think I'd remember my own son's birthday," I snapped, grabbing Leo's hand and walking out.

I drove straight to the private hospital owned by my best friend, Marcus Bell. He pulled in the most respected pediatric specialist, who didn't just re-shoot the bone age scan, but also ran a full workup, including a telomere length test.

The specialists face was grave. "Both the bone age and telomere results are consistent with a five-year-old. If you are certain about his birth date... Mr. Sullivan, I recommend a paternity test."

The world went quiet. A dull roar filled my ears.

Thirty minutes later, the nurse handed me the report. The words were black and white, utterly unambiguous: "Paternity Excluded."

I gripped the paper, my hands shaking uncontrollably.

"Then where is my son? Where is my child?"

1

Marcus glanced at Leo, who was oblivious, playing with a toy car. "Dean," he lowered his voice. "The kid... he really doesn't look like you. But he's the spitting image of Tia."

It hit me. Six years ago, I was pulled onto a top-secret mission. To insulate Tia and the baby from any risk, I'd lied, telling her I was launching a startup in Africa. I went dark for an entire year.

When I returned with a commendation ribbon, a year later, Leo was tiny and thin, looking nothing like the robust infant I'd left behind. Tia had tearfully claimed she'd suffered terrible insomnia after I left, her milk dried up early, and that's why the baby was so frail.

My guilt had been immense. From that day on, I never questioned her, always trying to compensate for my absence.

Just then, my phone rang. Tia's furious voice hit me like a physical blow. "A simple physical exam and it took you this long? You can't even manage that! God, you're useless!"

I mumbled some vague excuse and got off the line. My gut was screaming that this was the tip of an ugly iceberg, but I knew better than to tip my hand now.

I hung up and drove Leo back to the car. He immediately started kicking the back of my seat.

"Stop it," I warned him over my shoulder.

He suddenly raised his little fist and, before I could react, slammed it into my eye. My vision flashed white. I swerved, nearly hitting a parked tree.

"My mom says you're just a mooch who lives off her money. You don't get to tell me what to do!"

He wasn't mine. That vicious, entitled streak was a clear sign. He was an ungrateful little viper. Id poured my heart and soul into raising him for years, and it was worth less than feeding a stray dog.

"Act up one more time," I growled, "and I swear I'm pulling over and leaving you on the curb!"

When we got to Tia's office building, she was waiting outside, hands on her hips, instantly furious. "Three hours for a check-up? Three hours! Are you going to pay for Leo missing his classes?"

The kid, seizing the moment, kicked me hard, spat a glob of saliva onto my shirt, and instantly hid behind Tia.

I had to swallow the urge to grab him and shake him. Finding my real son was the priority now.

I locked eyes with Tia. "We've been married for eight years. If you've done anything to betray me, I'm giving you a chance to be honest right now."

A flash of panic crossed her face, but she instantly regained her composure. "Are you losing it? You're a grown man who can't hold a decent job or handle one kid, and now you're trying to gaslight me? Get a grip!"

"Apologize to me right now! Or you can forget about your allowance this month!"

People passing by stopped and stared, whispering and pointing. "Look, it's the guy who lives off his wife..."

I was about to say something, anything, when Marcus's call came in. "Dean, I have a lead on the whole Leo situation. Get back here now."

I turned to leave, but Tia grabbed my arm. "You will apologize to me!"

I shoved her hand away. She stared at my retreating back, utterly stunned. "How dare you..."

I burst into Marcus's office. He looked worried. "Dean, try to stay calm."

He slid a manila envelope across his desk and opened it. I thought I was prepared for anything, but what I saw obliterated me.

Shortly after I'd deployed, Tia had reconnected with her high school sweetheart, Rex Kincaid. She'd gotten pregnant with his child. To ensure her bastard son got citizenship and access to the city's resources, she had substituted him for my Owen. My real son, Owen, had been dumped on her aunt in a rural, run-down county, with only two hundred dollars a month for his upkeep.

I shattered the glass on the desk. "That snake! That viper!" I spun toward the door, ready to drive to her hometown.

Marcus grabbed me. "Wait. Owen isn't there anymore. Every summer, her aunt would essentially rent him out to an old man in the village to take him out begging. They're transients... they could be anywhere."

Begging. The word was a punch to the gut. I felt the office spin.

I forced myself steady. I pulled out my phone and dialed the number I hadn't touched in six years.

"This is Dean Sullivan. Please... I need your help finding my son."

A deep, resonant voice answered immediately. "You are a national asset, Dr. Sullivan. Rest assured, we never abandon our own."

I hung up, my heart tearing apart. My Owen should have been enrolling in the city's best prep school, not kneeling on a street corner, kowtowing for change.

Thirty minutes later, the contact texted me an address. It was in a dilapidated, almost slum-like part of the city.

I grabbed my keys and sprinted out. The address led me to a grimy, boarded-up rental room. Before I even reached the door, I heard a child's panicked wailing. Then came an old man's furious yell: "That's all you brought back all day? I'll beat you to death, you worthless brat!"

I kicked the door in, lunged forward, and pulled the boy into my arms. I looked down at his facea mirror image of my own. I didn't need the DNA test. This was my Owen.

The initial shock of relief gave way to horror. I saw a small space heater with a piece of metala branding ironglowing on top. The boy's thin legs bore two identical, circular scars. The wounds were festering, weeping pus, and the stench was sickening.

"Are you even human?" I roared, kicking the old man square in the stomach.

I carried Owen and burst into the ER. "Doctor, fast! My son needs help!"

The doctor later told me that a few more hours, and they would have had to amputate.

I sat by his bed, watching his pale, frail face, my heart aching with a physical pain. His lashes fluttered. When he saw me, he flinched and tried to shrink back into the covers, his wide eyes filled with pure terror.

I gently held his cold little hand, my voice thick with emotion. "I am so sorry, Owen. Daddy was late. You shouldn't have suffered."

"You're... my dad?" he whispered, testing the words.

I nodded hard. "Yes. And I'm going to take care of you, always."

CRASH! A heavy thermos slammed into the bedrail right beside Owen's head. If it had hit him, the damage would have been catastrophic.

A child's laugh echoed from the doorway. "Fun! That was so much fun! I got a bulls-eye!"

I looked at the thermos on the floorit had a cute dinosaur print. I'd special-ordered it from Japan last year. For Leo.

Tia stormed in, pointing a finger at my face. "Dean Sullivan, are you insane? How dare you have the police arrest my uncle! Go down to the precinct and get him released right now!"

Only then did I realize: the old man who had brutalized my son was her uncle. That whole family, a nest of vipers.

I gave a slow, cold smile. I stepped aside, revealing Owen, who was still flinching behind me.

Tia's jaw dropped. "L-Leo? What are you doing here?"

Rex's son, Leo, pointed at Owen. "Hey, isn't that the nasty beggar from my great-aunt's place?" The disgust in his eyes was palpable.

Tia instantly shoved Leo behind her, her eyes scanning me with deep suspicion. Her gaze darted everywhere but mine. "What... what exactly do you know?" she asked, her voice a low trial balloon.

"I know the 'Leo' you've been raising is Rex Kincaid's bastard." I smiled, but my eyes felt like chips of ice.

She decided to abandon the pretense. Her voice shot up, hysterical. "And what right do you have to feel wronged? Everything you eat, everything you wear, is paid for by me!" She lunged half a step forward, flecks of spittle hitting my face. "You said you were starting a company in Africa. What happened? You came crawling back with nothing! If Rex hadn't shown me how to run a business, I'd be sucking wind following you!"

"And that justifies your cheating? That justifies dumping my son in the middle of nowhere so your bastard could steal his name and his life?"

"Yes!" She jutted her chin out, screaming. "Rex knows how to give me the life I deserve! He's a real man! And I'm happy to have his kid!" She pointed at me, spitting on the floor near my feet. "You are a spineless, worthless coward! And that's why your son deserved to be a nobody in some trailer park!"

She grabbed the glass sitting on the bedside table and threw it at me. I threw up my arm to deflect it, and a shard scraped a bloody line across my wrist.

On the bed, Owen flinched violently. His voice was a thin sob. "I'll be good. I'll call you Aunt Tia now, I promise I won't call you Mom. Please, don't hit my daddy..."

A crowd of onlookers had gathered. Murmurs began to rise. "How could a mother be so cruel to such a sweet child?"

I stroked Owen's hair, then pulled a folded document from my jacket pocket and slapped it onto the bedside table. "Divorce. And your bastard is giving my son his name back." Cutting all ties with Tia was the immediate priority. I had to ensure this snake could never touch Owen again.

Tia snatched the document, tore it into confetti, and threw the pieces in my face. "You want a divorce? It'll be on my terms!"

Barely five minutes later, the door flew open. Rex Kincaid stood there, flanked by over a dozen sharply dressed lawyers, a looming, black cloud of suits.

Leo, the fake son, immediately darted forward and latched onto Rex's leg. "Daddy! Dean Sullivan called me a bastard! Beat him up for me!"

Rex's eyes slid over to me, dripping with contempt. "Don't worry, son. Daddy's going to make him kneel and apologize."

One of his lawyers stepped forward and flicked a document into my chest. "Mr. Sullivan, take a look."

It was a post-nuptial agreement. When I'd returned from my mission, Tia had played the victim, claiming she felt insecure after my year-long absence. Drowning in guilt, I signed it without a second thought. The agreement stipulated that all assets acquired during our marriage belonged solely to her, and in the event of a divorce, I would walk away with nothing.

Rex's smile stretched ear to ear. "Kneel and beg my son for forgiveness, and I might let you keep that dump of a house. Otherwise, you and your little tramp can sleep under a bridge tonight."

Tia wrapped her arm around Rex, her face smug. "Even if you steal back your son's name, so what? No house means no residency, and no elite schools!"

"Keep the 'dump.' You earned it." I picked up the pre-torn agreement, pulled out a pen, and signed my name on a clean corner.

Tia bent down to Owen's level. "Your daddy is broke. Empty pockets. He's going to take you begging, honey. You two can hold hands and beg on the street corner. Ha ha ha!"

Owen choked, grabbing my shirt. "Daddy, I don't need to eat meat. I'm good at working hard. Please, don't make me beg..."

My throat tightened until I couldn't speak. I pulled him into my chest. "I promise, Owen. You will never suffer like that again. I'm going to make you the happiest kid in the world."

"What a performance!" Rex scoffed, pulling out his phone and shoving a video in my face. "Take a lookyou've officially been evicted."

The screen showed my living room. My personal assistant was tossing my belongings into massive trash bags. Then the camera panned to my study. My computerthe monitor smashed, the CPU tower shoved into a recycling bin.

The hard drive held my most recent, classified researchwork that, if successfully implemented, could completely eradicate the Ebola virus.

I immediately dialed my secure contact number, summarizing the situation in three clipped sentences. A calm, grave voice responded: "Order received. Immediate action."

Less than three minutes later, the video on Rex's phone suddenly shifted tone. A swarm of people in specialized tactical gear poured into my house. A man in sunglasses said something to the assistant, who instantly went slack-kneed and collapsed to the floor, terrified. Next, several agents carefully knelt by the recycling bin, retrieving the damaged PC parts. They handled the hard drive as if it were a priceless relic, placing it gently into a secure box.

Rex's face darkened instantly. "Dean Sullivan! You call in a few thugs and think you can scare me? You forget who's backing me?"

Tia puffed out her chest. "Rex and I land all those major contracts because he has a big-shot backer! The man's name would make you faint! Apologize now, and we might still forgive you!"

I gave them a look of pure contempt. "You mean the CEO of Aethel Biotech, right? The one who funneled ninety percent of their contracts your way these past few years? How else do you think a mediocre pair like you could run a company?"

Rex and Tia stared, their shock undisguised. They hadn't expected me to know the puppet master.

Tia quickly recovered, raising her chin defiantly. "So you know! Good! Now kowtow to my son, or I'll make sure you can't get a job in this entire city!"

The agent on the recovery team called back. "Dr. Sullivan, the drive is secure. Data intact."

I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. "Thank you. Please have the contents of my study delivered to my office..."

I didn't finish the sentence. Tia suddenly lunged and smacked the phone out of my hand. She stood, hands on her hips, screeching. "You want your things? Forget it! You're not taking a single thingnot even a pin!"

My patience snapped. I pulled the hospital phone off the wall and called security. "Inpatient Room 502. Send guards immediately. Clear out all non-essential personnel."

Rex glared at me, slamming his hand on the bedside table. "Hey! I'd like to see who in this city has the guts to challenge me!" He spun to his entourage of lawyers and muscle. "Take him out! Cripple Dean Sullivan! Double pay for everyone this month!"

The thugs instantly surrounded us, fists aimed directly at my face.

I tightened my grip on Owen, and slammed my elbow into the jaw of the guy who charged first. At the same moment, the hospital security guards burst in, joining the chaos. The room erupted into a brawl. IV poles crashed, and the bedside table overturned.

My arms locked around Owen, shielding him. I spotted a gap toward the door, but Rex suddenly grabbed a shard of broken glass and lunged at my son's body. "Die, you piece of trash!"

I kicked him hard in the gut. He screamed, stumbling backward into the wall.

Just then, another wave of men surged into the rooma team of black-suited security professionals.

Rex's eyes lit up when he saw the lead man. He rushed forward, a sickeningly ingratiating smile plastered on his face. "Mr. Rhodes! You're here for me, right? Did the CEO of Aethel finally agree to that dinner? I've been waiting for days..."

Mr. Rhodes walked right past him. He stopped directly in front of me, his voice deferential. "Dr. Sullivan. My apologies for the delay. I hope you and the young master haven't suffered too much."

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