Chapter 2: The Test That Was Never Real

By the time Officer Naomi Brooks from the Lakehaven Police Department arrived with her team, the birthday candles were still burning.

Officer Brooks shut off the livestream first, then instructed everyone not to delete anything from their phones.

Tessa tried to hide her phone behind her back.

“Officer, this was just a birthday game. A family prank. We just wanted to see how she’d react to the report. We didn’t actually do anything to her.”

Officer Brooks glanced at Owen, who was still trembling in my arms.

“The child’s face has already been made public. The livestream peaked at thirteen thousand concurrent viewers. You call that ‘not doing anything’?”

Tessa fell silent.

Adrian, however, stood and moved in front of Celeste.

“It was just my sister’s idea, a casual thing. If my wife didn’t have a guilty conscience, this would’ve blown over with a laugh. She’s the one who blew it out of proportion.”

I looked at him.

“So you knew the report was fake.”

His expression stiffened.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You just said this should have ‘blown over with a laugh.’ If you thought the report was real, why would your own child’s paternity be a laughing matter?”

Relatives up and down the table started exchanging uneasy looks.

Officer Brooks had her colleagues photograph the equipment on site. Then she put on gloves and carefully removed the report and the divorce agreement from Adrian’s briefcase.

I didn’t touch the report. I only asked Adrian, “Who collected Owen’s sample?”

“I did.”

“When?”

“Last week.”

“How?”

“Hair from his comb.”

“Did you get written consent from me, his legal guardian? Did the lab verify Owen’s ID? Was there a sealed chain of custody? Sample photos?”

Adrian’s jaw tightened.

“A father doesn’t need permission to test his own son.”

The words appeared in front of me again.

【The report number doesn’t exist.】

【The seal belongs to Harbor Health Advisory, a consulting company with no accreditation for kinship testing.】

【Don’t just expose it. Have the police preserve it. The fake report is evidence of their collusion.】

I turned to Officer Brooks.

“I’m formally requesting that this report be logged as a suspected forgery. I’m also requesting preservation of the original livestream file, its backend data, and the communications records of everyone present.”

Celeste suddenly pressed a hand to her chest and burst into tears.

“I’d heard my daughter-in-law might be unfaithful. I only wanted to use my birthday to get the truth out of her. What family hasn’t taken a joke too far? And now she wants to drag me down to the police station.”

I settled Owen more securely in my arms.

“When you pointed the camera at his face, did you ever stop to think where that might drag him?”

Graham stared at the report, his face grim.

“Tomorrow at nine. North Sound Family Genetics. Their reports are accepted in court. It’s who the lawyers I know use.”

He paused. “All three groups get tested.”

Celeste grabbed his sleeve.

“The day after my birthday, you want the whole family testing their blood ties? Do you have any idea how ugly that will look if word gets out?”

Graham shook her off.

“It was livestreamed to more than ten thousand people. And now you’re worried about how it looks?”

I looked at Celeste.

“Add one more test.”

“Have Tessa tested against Graham, too. That way, when the report comes back, no one can claim Graham’s sample was the problem.”

Tessa gave a cold laugh.

“You want to drag me into this?”

“Aren’t you the one who cares most about the Bellamy bloodline?”

She opened her mouth, ready to agree, but Celeste snapped at her.

“Tessa!”

The sharpness in her voice made everyone look over.