DNA results

​~Zara POV~

​I wiped my tears as I got out of the taxi. As usual, the mansion was quiet, with a few guards around and servants tending to the garden. I ignored the sharp pain in my abdomen as I pushed the doors to the mansion open. I didn't know how to act or how to explain to the family that Wilson not only cheated on me, but he also fathered three children outside our marriage. ​However, as soon as I entered the hallway, I was greeted by the Adams family. The entire family was there, a silent jury gathered in the hall room. My father-in-law, Vincent Adams, stood at the center, his face a mask of aristocratic fury. ​

“Mr. Adams, I'm sorry, but Wilson…” I started but I froze. A heavy slap landed across my face. ​The blow didn't come with a shout; it came with the terrifying speed of a man who felt he was cleaning a stain. My head snapped back, the metallic tang of blood blooming in my mouth as I stumbled.

​“Mommy!” I heard my daughter’s sweet voice call out to me. I didn't cry as I slowly turned to look at the man who slapped me. It was Vincent Adams. He stood there, his chest heaving with rage. ​

“How dare you humiliate my family like this!” Vincent yelled. He followed it with another slap that sent me falling to the cold floor with a thud. None of the family members moved to help. There was no sound except for my daughter crying and calling out to me from the top of the stairs. ​

“I fed you! I took you in! I gave you a roof over your head after your damned family abandoned you!” Vincent shouted as he reached into his jacket and threw some papers at me. They scattered around me like confetti, white sheets sliding across the polished marble. I struggled to get to my feet, my face swollen and my head spinning. ​

“Father-in-law… I…” I didn't know what was happening. I looked up and saw Ivy being held back by Justin, Wilson’s second brother. He had a firm grip on her small shoulders. His expression darkened as my daughter struggled to get free, her small face red from sobbing. ​

“You're nothing but a slut… a taint to my family's reputation!” Vincent was furious. He bent down and grabbed me by the hair, pulling me up until I was forced to look him in the eye. “I saved you, Zara, from your family's debt, and now you dare have a child with another man!” ​Vincent gripped my hair so tightly I thought it would rip from my head. I gasped, trying to loosen his hold, but he was too strong. Then the words and accusations hit me. None of it made sense.

​“That's… that's not true. Ivy is Wilson’s child,” I tried to explain. My voice was raspy. Where did they get that information? Ivy was Wilson’s daughter. We had raised her together.

​“Stop lying, you filthy slut. You slept with another man and pinned it on my brother,” Justin said disdainfully from his position by the stairs. I saw Kate scoff with irritation. She was Vincent's wife and their stepmother, and she had never liked me from the day I arrived. Mainly because I found out her secret affair with Justin. They were lovers. Justin threatened to stop my daughter’s medical care I had no choice but to keep quiet.

​“No, you're lying. Father-in-law, Ivy is your granddaughter!” I was desperate. This was a nightmare. But Vincent picked up one of the documents from the floor and shoved it into my hands. I nervously tried to read the fine print, and what I saw shocked me to my core. It was a DNA test result, and it clearly stated that there was a zero percent probability of Wilson being the biological father. This was a lie. A complete fabrication. ​

“No, that's not true. She's… Ivy is Wilson and my child.” ​

“You're pathetic, Zara. I want you and that damned child out of my house!” Vincent yelled so loudly that Ivy cried out even more. Despite her cries and her tiny hands reaching for me, Justin held her down. ​

“Not after she signs the divorce papers,” a voice came. It was a familiar voice that usually brought me comfort, but now it only brought cold dread. I turned, and Wilson walked in. He looked imposing, the Adams family's first son and CEO of Adams Oil. He looked ragged, his hair wet as if he had just taken a quick shower to wash away the scent of the woman I had just caught him with. ​

“She's a slut. She cheated on me,” Wilson spat out. His eyes shone with hate as he stood before me. He didn't look like the man I had shared a bed with for seven good years.

“We treated you so well, yet you played me, Zara. How evil are you!” he whispered disdainfully. ​The irony was suffocating. He was the one who cheated. He was the one with a secret family and three children in a hidden mansion.

​“That's a lie, and you know it! I did everything for you! I sacrificed my career and everything to be a perfect wife for you!” I was angry at him and at myself for being so blind. All I did was love him and the Adams family. I had given up my life for this house.

​“Did I ever tell you to do that, huh?” Wilson grabbed me by the chin and tilted my head up violently. His fingers dug into my skin. “Did I, Zara? Did I fucking tell you to do anything for me? I have everything; you have nothing!” he yelled as he tossed me to the floor like a piece of trash. ​That sharp pain in my stomach started again, but more intense this time. It felt like a hot knife twisting inside me. The whole family watched. The servants peeked from the kitchen and the corners of the hallway to see the scandal in secret.

​“I want her and that disgrace she calls my daughter out. Starting today, I strip her of my surname. She's a taint,” Wilson announced to the room. I shook my head in denial, tears flooding my eyes. They couldn't do this. They couldn't just throw us away based on a fake piece of paper. ​

“Not her. You know her condition… her medical expenses. You can't do this!” I pleaded, crawling toward his feet. I was ready to leave, but Ivy needed her treatment. My daughter had a rare medical condition that required millions to manage every month. Without the Adams' money, she wouldn't survive. ​

“You disgust me, Zara,” Wilson said, looking down at me with no more emotion than one would show an insect. He raised his foot and kicked me in the stomach before he turned and walked away toward the study. ​I curled into a ball, the world spinning. I lay sprawled on the cold floor as the family members dispersed, leaving one after the other as if the show was over. Justin finally let go of Ivy, pushing her toward me before following his father.

​“Mommy!” Ivy rushed to me, tripping over her feet in her haste. I gathered every ounce of strength I had left to hold her in my arms. She was crying and trembling, her small heart racing against my chest. My precious daughter was so delicate, and she was all I had left.

“You're a disgraceful slut…we fed you and now…” Kate said with hate before she catwalked away. ​

“Don't… don't be scared. Mommy is fine,” I turned to my daughter, trying to comfort her. I planted a kiss on her forehead, but I could feel my strength fading. I looked down at the white marble floor. ​My body was covered in blood. It was soaking through my dress and staining the floor beneath me. I was lying in a pool of blood. I lost my child, and in this house full of people, no one cared. ​The silence that followed was worse than the shouting. Ivy’s small hands were stained red as she tried to wipe the tears from my face. ​

“Mommy, you're bleeding,” she whispered, her voice trembling. ​I looked toward the door where Wilson had disappeared. He knew. He knew I was pregnant. He knew I was hurting. And he had kicked me anyway. He didn't just want a divorce; he wanted to destroy every part of me. ​I looked at the papers scattered around us. It was over.