CHAPTER 5

After sweet baby boy Raphaël was born, Harley had briefly, just for a few minutes, considered the idea of asking Armel for a DNA test, but, in the end, decided, it wasn’t a very good idea. His reaction to her pregnancy had shown that he abhorred the idea of fatherhood and Harley had feared he would only take a reluctant role in his son’s upbringing.

At eighteen months old, Raphaël was a happy, funny, sweet, loving baby boy whose confidence was built on the instinctive knowledge that he was loved unconditionally by his mother… So much so, that a father wasn’t requested in their family picture. Harley made sure of that.

She would not allow Armel to destroy that confidence, Harley thought fiercely, and she would do everything in her power to ensure that her little man grew up with a sense of self-worth that she herself had been denied.

But now, Armel had his own reasons for insisting on a paternity test. He was convinced that the results would abso