32. Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Two
Ava
What he’s just said is so far removed from anything I ever would have expected that I just stare at him. “What do you mean?” My knees wobble, and I press my hand into the wall behind me. “Forged?”
Stephen sweeps me into his arms and carries me to his bed on the other side of the half wall that separates his bedroom from the living space. He sets me down in the middle, and then he crawls in beside me, lying on his stomach, a pillow scrunched up under his cheek.
“Forged, yeah,” he agrees. “If you’re not well enough for this conversation, I can wait. I probably should have waited.”
“I don’t understand.” I press my fingers into my temple. “We ran two tests. Two. Both said Raul.”
“Who ran those tests?”
“The hospital.”
“Who arranged them?”
“My mother.”
Stephen doesn’t say anything, but when I search his expression, the penny drops. “You think she forged those tests?”
“I started working for the Tucker family behind the scenes before I even officially became a cop. Your mom had me do some things I wasn’t completely comfortable with, just to see if I was worth her investment. She wanted to see how far I’d go.”
“You never told me that.”
“It’s not exactly behavior I’m proud of—that your mother determined how well she could control me, how desperate I was, before she got me hired onto the force. By the time we met, your relationship with your mother was already rocky, and it wasn’t in my best interests to make it worse.”
“Worse for me or her?”
“At first? For her. Making you hate her or even like her less wasn’t good for my career.
But later, you were my main concern. Underneath that rocky relationship, I would have bet that you wanted her to see you, acknowledge you, be a real mother.
Revealing what I’d experienced with her wouldn’t have helped you. ”
“I can’t believe this,” I whisper. And I can’t, but I can at least a little. Maybe.
“You and your siblings believed that Celia protected you all or at least smothered negativity. Maybe her one motherly quality. She did do that. That’s not untrue. But the methods she used to accomplish all that were sometimes pretty ruthless.” His lips dip into a hint of a frown.
“You’re saying I shouldn’t have trusted her.”
“There’s a chance she used that trust to her advantage.”
“I don’t understand why she’d care.”
“No? A grandchild from a marriage with a wealthy billionaire or a child with an ex-police officer who was on her payroll. Especially one who’d left the country with no forwarding address. You think Celia Tucker would find that scenario acceptable?”
“She wouldn’t have interfered. She already lost Nathaniel because of bullshit like this. She’d already lost him by the time I found out I was pregnant. Why would she… She wouldn’t.”
Stephen runs his hand along my leg and then loops his arm around my waist, easing me closer. “Do you want me to tell you what I know? It’ll change the way you see your mother.”
I scooch down so that I’m lying flush with him, my ear pressed against his chest. He puts his big arm around me, cradling me close. “I’m ready,” I whisper.
“Celia is about calculated risks. Always. If I’m right, here’s what she would have been thinking.
You would be a pregnant single mother. Raul had maybe told her at one point that he wished he had an heir.
You had been trying for years to get various businesses and ventures off the ground by self-funding them.
Raul’s money would fix that for you. He gives you money, and you give him a baby. ”
I shake my head, and I want to cover my ears, keep the rest at bay.
“Two tests, both of those, according to your mother, said that Raul was the father. If I’d never returned, if my company hadn’t been involved in your family’s security, and if Landon hadn’t needed an emergency blood transfusion and the blood bank in Tucker’s Town hadn’t been out, you’d never have questioned his paternity. ”
“That’s true. That’s so true,” I say. As much as I’d wished for a different result, with two tests, I’d accepted that life didn’t always give me the outcome I wanted, the one that made the most sense.
“To your mother, that’s a good risk. The likelihood of the chain of events happening that I described is astronomically low. Forging the DNA test, if the result wasn’t Raul, becomes a no-brainer.”
“But she knew,” I say, my voice thick with tears, “she knew I wanted Landon to be yours.”
“And to your mother, that want would have been something you needed to be protected from. It didn’t serve you. But on top of that, and maybe more importantly, you as a single abandoned mother didn’t serve the Tucker family name and reputation.”
My mind starts racing, trying to remember the things my mother said and did during that time.
She was definitely pro-Raul. Still is. At the fundraiser before the accident, she basically told me to forget Stephen and to make sure my husband felt supported as the head of the household.
Such archaic bullshit, and I can’t believe I ever swallowed it.
“Are you sure that’s what happened?” I ask, clutching his shirt.
“No.” Stephen’s big hand spans my back as he runs it up and down my spine in soothing motions. “But that’s why I think we need another test.”
“If my mother has people at the hospital in her pocket, I don’t know how we do that.”
“The palace,” he says, lips against my temple. “They have a lab. Top-secret, high-priority cases were often sent there instead of through the police station or Tucker’s Town hospital. Dr. Bennett runs a tight ship over there.”
“You don’t work at the station anymore.” My brain is stalled.
“Your sister married into the royal family,” he reminds me gently. “If you call Maren or Brice, I’m sure they’d help us out.”
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel right now,” I whisper. “I think I should be angry—I want to be angry—but it’s like my mind is swimming in information it can’t process.”
“I might be wrong,” Stephen says. “I could be wrong.”
More than anything, I want Stephen to be Landon’s dad.
But if Landon gains a caring, involved father, I lose my mother.
I can’t forgive her if she’s manipulated and deceived not just me but Landon too.
She completely changed the course of my life, of Landon’s life, and I can’t honestly say our lives have been better in any way.
I masked my misery, more for Landon’s sake than anything, but when Stephen came back, the full force of my unhappiness hit me like a hurricane.
If she forged the DNA result, she robbed us all.
“Monday,” I say. “I’ll text Maren to see if we can go on Monday when we take Landon to school.”
“Monday,” Stephen agrees.
“Can I stay here with you?” I ask, glancing up at him. “I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts.”
He tucks me in tighter and kisses my forehead. “If I could, I wouldn’t have you anywhere else.”
“Can you open the doors between the apartments in case Landon wakes up and calls for me?”
Stephen untangles himself from me, opens the doors on both ends of the hallway wide, turns out the lights, and comes back to the bed. He picks me up to pull the covers down, and then he slides me underneath. His gentleness makes my throat tight with emotion.
He stands at the edge of the bed, and I pat his spot. If he offers to sleep somewhere else, he’s totally misunderstood what I want.
“I never thought I’d get to be in a bed with you again,” he says, his voice gruff. “I never thought I’d be with you in any way after that night in my apartment. I really thought we were done.”
“Oh, Stephen, I’m really sorry,” I say, my voice thick with tears. “I’m so sorry.”
“Baby.” He crawls into bed beside me and carefully draws me into him. “Don’t cry. It’ll just make everything hurt.”
“Everything already hurts,” I say, burrowing my face in his chest. “And you called me baby.” I cling to him, crying, and my lungs hurt and my ribs hurt, but it’s nothing compared to how terrible I feel beneath those surface-level pains.
I was so careless with him when I should have been so careful.
If I’d treated him with the care he deserved, none of this would have happened.
“Even if he’s not mine,” Stephen murmurs into my ear, “he’s still yours, and that’s enough for me.”
When that just makes me cry harder, he holds me tight until we both fall asleep, wrapped up in each other.
Maren is outside the main entrance of the palace as we drive through the gates. I texted her the morning after Stephen told me he thought my mother was a master manipulator. The more I’ve thought about it, the more I believe it could be true.
“I checked with Dr. Bennett,” Maren says once we’re out of the car and following her across the expertly manicured grounds to the medical building, “and the palace is capable of running paternity tests in-house.” She tugs her hair into a ponytail as we walk. “Mom is unbelievable.”
“Neither of us know if she has done this.” Saying that is more to manage my expectations than a lack of belief.
The idea that I could have Stephen and remove Raul from the family unit is everything I ever wanted six years ago.
But if Raul is Landon’s father, I have to make sure I’m mentally prepared for that fight.
It’s a tightrope walk between the two emotions—elation and despair.
“But you think she did,” Maren says to Stephen, more statement than question.
“Yes,” Stephen says, “I think there’s a strong possibility.”
“Then she probably did,” Maren says. “Mom loves playing puppet master. I’ve wondered a few times what strings she’s pulled that we never even saw.”
“If she did this,” I say, “she’d better hope her health is solid. Nathaniel won’t help her, and if she’s lied to me and let my son believe someone else is his father—the idea of explaining all of this to him is…” I stare up at Stephen. “Not to mention denying Stephen his chance to be a dad.”
“A lot of layers there,” Maren agrees as we approach the medical building. Like much of the palace properties, the building’s exterior is composed of a mix of limestone and fieldstone. She opens the modern glass door, and we enter a narrow hallway.
A nurse comes out of one of the rooms. “Dr. Bennett should be here any moment,” she says. “If you want to take a seat.”
It’s funny to me that the royal doctor even has a waiting room. As far as I know, the only people Dr. Bennett sees are the royal family.
“This is bigger than I expected,” I say.
“Rory changed how the medical clinic works. Any employee can come to Dr. Bennett prior to or following a shift if they need medical attention or advice. We also have all these royal children on the estate now, since the brothers have all stayed on the property with their families, which goes against previous customs. Lots of clients for Dr. Bennett and his staff.”
“Sounds like something Queen Aurora would do,” I say.
“She’s been good for Alex and good for the country,” Maren agrees. “Do you want me to stay?”
“No,” I say, and I take Stephen’s hand between mine. “We should be okay.”
“Thank you,” Stephen says.
“Of course,” Maren says. “We Tucker kids need to stick together.” She offers me a half hug before she heads for the door again. “And if you need any help managing Mom,” she says to me, “you call all of us. There’s strength in numbers. Okay?”
I lift my chin. “If Mom forged the results, I’ll handle her myself.”
“But you don’t have to.” Maren gives me a soft smile. “That’s all I’m saying.”
“Thank you,” I say, and Stephen squeezes my hand.
As Maren is leaving, Dr. Bennett comes through the door too, and the two of them briefly catch up at the entry.
“You’re here for a consult?” Dr. Bennett says as he leads us back to a room.
“We need your help,” Stephen says, “or more accurately, the help of your onsite lab.”
“We still help the police from time to time,” Dr. Bennett says. “Haven’t seen you for a few years.”
“I left the island,” Stephen says. “I’ve been back for a little less than a year now.”
Every time I hear his timeline, my stomach somersaults. I still haven’t pressed him for why he returned.
Once we’re safely inside one of the examination rooms, Dr. Bennett takes a seat, and we sit in the other two chairs. “What can I do for you both?”
I look at Stephen, unsure of where I should even start.
“Tell him everything,” Stephen suggests.
So I do. All the good and the bad followed by our suspicions. When I finish, Dr. Bennett grimaces. “I have heard Celia Tucker’s influence is quite broad on the island. Doctoring DNA results is impressive and horrifying.”
“Raul is on Landon’s birth certificate,” I tell him. “If he’s not the father, we’ll need that changed.”
“That’s a legal process,” Dr. Bennett says, “and that’s a separate thing.
If you bring Landon here, we’ll follow the strict legal protocol for a DNA test that’ll be accepted by the courts.
We’ll ask for two copies. One of those will need to stay sealed if the court is expected to accept it as proof of paternity. ”
“How long?” Stephen asks.
“Since we need to follow the legal protocol, and the test has to be completed by an independent, certified lab—which we aren’t—you’re likely looking at two to three weeks to get the results.”
“You don’t send them to the hospital, right?” I ask.
“No. They go off island. But the facility they go to in England handles top-secret government and royal affairs. There will be no leak to your mother.”
“You’ve met Celia Tucker, right?” Stephen lets out a little laugh.
“She has a lot of power and influence on this island, I will give you that. Married into one of the oldest families in Bellerive. I’ve heard she worked extremely hard to earn that Tucker label.
She stockpiles secrets and information like other people collect currency, and she’s very protective of the reputation she married into.
” Dr. Bennett assesses both of us. “But she’s not all-powerful off the island. Just a normal rich human being.”
I turn to Stephen, and my heart constricts at how beautiful he is to me.
Beautiful might not be the right word—the little scars dot his cheek, and he has crow’s feet at the edges of his eyes now.
But every mark, every change is dear to me.
I want to hold them all close, note down each one so I never miss another subtle or big change, so I never feel like I’m on the outside of his life again.
“We’re doing this, right?” I ask him.
“This is the best chance we have at uncovering the truth. If there’s any truth to be uncovered.”
I turn back to Dr. Bennett and take a deep breath. “What do we need to do?”