Chapter 6 - The DNA Test
The sterile hospital room felt like it was aggressively closing in around me, suffocating my ability to breathe.
I stumbled backward, hitting the cold wall as my mind frantically tried to process the impossible truth.
The woman who had tormented me for eleven years about my infertility was actually my biological aunt and my kidnapper.
She had intentionally forced me to marry her pathetic son, Ryan, to ensure I remained trapped completely under her control.
Arthur stood up slowly from the hospital bed, his fists clenched so tightly his knuckles were completely white.
His pale blue eyes were no longer filled with sorrow; they were burning with a lethal, terrifying rage.
"Rebecca," Arthur whispered the name like a toxic poison, realizing the monster had been hiding in plain sight.
"She attended the funeral for our daughter, crying on my shoulder while hiding my actual child in another city."
The lead neurologist stepped cautiously into the room, holding a small medical kit.
"Mr. Sterling, if you wish to medically verify these claims, we can run a rapid DNA panel right now," the doctor offered nervously.
Arthur looked at me, his eyes softening slightly as he saw the absolute terror written across my face.
"Are you willing to do this, Mariana?" Arthur asked gently, offering me a choice I desperately needed.
I thought about the eleven years of psychological torture I had endured under Rebecca's cruel, watchful eye.
I thought about the baby currently growing inside me, and the family I was finally going to build for myself.
I nodded firmly, rolling up the sleeve of my blouse and extending my trembling arm toward the doctor.
The doctor quickly swabbed the inside of my cheek and drew a small vial of blood, rushing the samples directly to the lab.
We sat in agonizing silence for two entire hours, listening only to the steady, rhythmic beeping of Eleanor's heart monitor.
When the heavy wooden door finally opened, the hospital's chief of genetics walked in holding a sealed folder.
He did not speak a single word; he simply handed the official, stamped document directly to Arthur.
Arthur tore the envelope open with shaking hands, his eyes rapidly scanning the complex medical jargon.
He stopped reading, dropped the paper onto the hospital bed, and covered his face with his large hands.
A deep, agonizing sob violently tore its way out of the billionaire's chest.
"It is a 99.9% match," Arthur cried, looking up at me with tears completely ruining his stoic facade.
"You are my daughter, Mariana."
Eleanor held her fragile arms out to me, her face completely radiant with absolute, undeniable maternal love.
I walked slowly toward the bed and collapsed into her arms, finally feeling the genuine warmth of a mother I had never known.
We cried together for a long time, mourning the twenty-five years that had been violently stolen from us.
But the beautiful family reunion was suddenly, violently interrupted by the loud buzzing of Arthur's encrypted cell phone.
Arthur wiped his eyes, answered the call, and put the device on speaker for the entire room to hear.
"Mr. Sterling, we have a massive security breach at the Montgomery residence," the head of his private security detail shouted.
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"Rebecca Montgomery just broke through the front gates in a stolen vehicle."
"She is heavily armed, and she is holding her own son, Ryan, hostage in the master bedroom."
