Chapter 8 - The DNA Test Answered the Wrong QuestionEthan barely slept.
Rachel’s question remained in his head.
What if the test reveals something about you?
It sounded absurd.
The test compared Ethan and Ava.
Either he was Ava’s biological father or he wasn’t.
What else could it reveal?
Then their attorney called the clinic.
The samples were secure.
No unauthorized access.
Margaret could have guessed.
She knew Rachel.
She knew Ethan.
She knew any accusation about paternity would eventually lead to testing.
Still, her confidence bothered him.
Two days later, the results arrived.
Ethan opened them with Rachel beside him.
Probability of paternity:
99.9998%.
He exhaled.
Rachel did not smile.
“I told you.”
“I know.”
“Say it.”
He looked at her.
“You told me.”
She nodded.
Some wound between them loosened.
Then Ethan kissed her forehead.
“I’m sorry I let her put even one second of doubt there.”
Rachel’s eyes softened.
“That’s what she does.”
“Yes.”
They told Ava nothing.
There was no reason a seven-year-old needed to know her grandmother questioned her parentage.
Then the laboratory director called.
“Mr. Miller, there’s an irregularity I thought you should know about.”
Ethan stiffened.
“What irregularity?”
“The paternity result is conclusive.”
“Then?”
“We ran standard quality-control markers.”
“And?”
“Some of your genetic markers indicate your recorded maternal family medical history may be inaccurate.”
Ethan frowned.
“I don’t understand.”
“Nothing concerning medically.”
“Then what are you saying?”
The director chose his words carefully.
“Your sample contains a mitochondrial haplogroup inconsistent with the maternal history listed on your intake.”
Ethan stared.
Rachel whispered:
“What?”
The director continued.
“This could simply mean the ancestry information provided was mistaken.”
Ethan’s heart began pounding.
His mother’s family had extensive genealogy records.
Margaret was obsessed with them.
Mayflower ancestor.
Irish grandmother.
German grandfather.
Family bloodlines mattered deeply to her.
“What would prove it?”
“A maternal-relative comparison.”
Ethan ended the call.
Rachel stared at him.
“You think Margaret isn’t your biological mother.”
“That’s crazy.”
“Is it?”
He wanted to say yes.
Then he remembered Claire.
Margaret had been sixteen when she gave birth.
Years later she used pregnancy to keep Frank from leaving.
What if that pregnancy story contained another lie?
Ethan called Claire.
“Do you know anything about my birth?”
Silence.
Then:
“Why?”
He explained.
Claire said nothing for so long Ethan checked the call.
“Claire?”
“I don’t know.”
“But?”
“I remember something.”
“What?”
“When I came back at fifteen, Frank found me outside.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“What did he say?”
“He apologized.”
“For what?”
“Everything.”
“What else?”
Claire hesitated.
“He said Margaret had built another lie.”
Ethan’s skin prickled.
“Did he explain?”
“No.”
“He said, ‘The boy deserves better than either of us.’”
The boy.
Ethan.
Claire continued.
“I thought he meant you growing up in that house.”
“Maybe he did.”
“Maybe.”
Rachel pulled out the old family files.
Ethan’s birth certificate listed Margaret and Frank.
No reason to question it.
Then Claire remembered someone.
“Ask Aunt Judith.”
“Who?”
“Margaret’s younger sister.”
Ethan frowned.
He had an Aunt Judith.
She lived in Arizona.
They barely spoke.
Margaret called her unstable.
Bitter.
Jealous.
Of course she did.
Ethan called.
Judith answered with suspicion.
When he asked whether Margaret gave birth to him, silence filled the line.
Then Judith said:
“I wondered how long she could keep that one.”
Ethan stopped breathing.
Rachel gripped his hand.
“What are you saying?”
Judith sighed.
“Margaret was pregnant in 1990.”
“So?”
“The baby was stillborn.”
The room seemed to tilt.
“No.”
“I was there.”
“No.”
“Ethan.”
“Then who am I?”
Judith’s voice broke.
“Frank’s son.”
“With who?”
Judith began crying.
“A waitress at the restaurant.”
“What waitress?”
“Her name was Elena Ruiz.”
Ethan’s hands went numb.
“Margaret found out about the affair while she was pregnant.”
“After she lost the baby, Elena gave birth three weeks later.”
Rachel covered her mouth.
Ethan could barely speak.
“What happened to Elena?”
Judith whispered:
“She disappeared.”
The word hit him.
“Disappeared how?”
“No one knew.”
“Frank came home with the baby.”
“You.”
“Margaret told everyone you were hers.”
“And Elena?”
Judith paused.
“Margaret said Elena abandoned you.”
Ethan closed his eyes.
He had spent two days believing the paternity test might reveal Ava wasn’t his daughter.
May you like
Instead, it had begun revealing that Margaret might not be his mother.
And somewhere in the history of the Miller restaurant was another woman Margaret had erased.
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