Chapter 10: Two Results
The call came on a Friday afternoon.
Patricia asked them to come to her office.
All of them — Robert, Sandra, Marcus, Lily.
She said she had both results and she wanted to deliver them in person.
They sat in her conference room.
The table was clean except for two sealed envelopes and a box of tissues that nobody acknowledged.
"I want to explain what we have before I open anything," Patricia said.
"The estate claim required a comparison between Marcus's DNA and a sample from Gerald Croft's archived medical records.
That result will determine whether the claim proceeds." She looked at Marcus.
"The second test is the one you requested privately — the comparison between your DNA and Robert's."
Marcus nodded.
"I'm going to open them in the order that affects the legal situation first," Patricia said.
"The estate claim."
She opened the first envelope.
She read it.
Her expression did not change.
"Marcus," she said, "Gerald Croft is not your biological father."
The room was very still.
Sandra let out a breath she seemed to have been holding for seventeen years.
"The claim will be withdrawn," Patricia continued.
"Daniel Croft retains the full estate.
That chapter is closed." She set the paper down.
"I want to be clear — this is not a bad outcome.
This means Gerald had no claim on you.
It means his son has no leverage.
It means everything Daniel threatened and implied was based on a fear that turned out to be groundless." She paused.
"It also means your mother ran from a man who had no biological connection to you.
She protected you from something that, genetically, was never his to take."
Sandra was crying.
Not loudly.
Just steadily, the way water moves when a dam finally gives.
Marcus reached over and took her hand.
Patricia picked up the second envelope.
"Do you want a moment first?" she asked Marcus.
"No," he said.
"Open it."
She opened it.
She read it.
She looked up at Marcus.
Then at Robert.
"Robert Calloway is your biological father," she said.
Robert made a sound that wasn't quite a word.
He pressed his hand over his mouth.
Lily looked at Marcus.
Marcus looked at Robert.
For a long moment, neither of them moved.
Then Marcus stood up, and Robert stood up, and they met in the middle of the conference room in the way men sometimes do when they don't have the words yet — hands gripping shoulders, foreheads almost touching, both of them breathing.
Lily looked at her father's face over Marcus's shoulder.
May you like
She had never seen him cry before.
She didn't look away.
