CHAPTER 27: STOLEN TRUTH

Damian’s blood ran cold. He scanned the DNA results quickly. The pages showed inconsistencies tampered seals noted in the lab comments, possible contamination flagged in red. The actual genetic markers were inconclusive, with multiple lines crossed out and rewritten. Someone had gotten to the samples again.

Chloe read over his shoulder, her body going rigid against him. “They’re still one step ahead. Even here. Even after everything.”

Damian dropped the papers onto the coffee table and pulled her closer, arm locked around her shoulders. The note lay there between them like a live wire. The board vote, the threats, the sabotage, everything was closing in. And now the one test that could have given them solid ground had been poisoned too.

He stared at the warning on the paper, jaw clenched so hard it ached. “Whoever this is… they’re not stopping until they break us.”

Chloe’s hand found his and squeezed tight, but her voice stayed quiet. “Then we don’t let them.”

*****

Chloe snatched the tampered DNA envelope from Damian’s hands, fingers crumpling the edges as she scanned the contaminated pages again. Her heart hammered against her ribs so hard she felt it in her throat. “What now? Even the truth is being stolen from us? We can’t get one clean answer about our own babies without someone twisting it?”

She pushed up from the couch, one hand braced on the armrest while the other stayed flat on her belly. The twins shifted restlessly under her palm as she started pacing the small living room of the brownstone. Every step sent a dull ache through her lower back, but she kept moving.

Damian stood right away and pulled out his phone. “I’m calling the lab. They’re supposed to have chain of custody protocols. This shouldn’t have happened.” He dialed and put it on speaker, jaw locked tight as it rang.

The lab technician answered on the third ring, voice clipped and professional. “Mr. King, we’ve reviewed the complaint. The samples arrived with compromised seals. We noted the tampering in the report. We’re re-running what we can from the backup vials, but contamination is confirmed on the primary set.”

Chloe stopped pacing and leaned over the speaker. “How does this even happen? Someone broke into your facility? Or was it one of your own people?”

The technician hesitated. “We’re investigating internally. Security footage is being reviewed. I can’t share more until...”

Damian cut in. “You will share more. Now. This is my wife and my children. If your lab let this happen, heads will roll.”

The technician’s tone shifted, more defensive. “We’re doing everything possible. Results in twenty-four to forty-eight hours on the backups. That’s the best I can promise.”

Damian ended the call and set the phone down hard on the coffee table. Chloe resumed pacing, shorter steps this time, her free hand rubbing circles on her belly like it could calm the storm inside her.

“You’re still hiding things,” she said, stopping to face him directly. “Even after the kiss. Even after everything we said. Marcus mentioned a connection to your family. You told me bits and pieces, but I know there’s more. Why me? Why did your mother pick me specifically? Tell me the full truth or I swear I’ll walk out that door right now, pregnancy or not.”

Damian stepped closer but kept his hands at his sides. “I gave you what I know. The rumors about my father having another child in Brooklyn. The payoffs. I never dug because it was buried for a reason. If there’s more tying you to us, I’ll find it. But I’m not holding back on purpose. I swear on the twins, Chloe. No more secrets. Not after last night.”

She searched his face, looking for any flicker of the old control. The exhaustion in his eyes looked real. The way his shoulders carried too much looked real. Still, doubt clawed at her. “I want to believe you. God, I do. But every time I let myself, another bomb drops.”

The wait for the lab callback stretched into heavy silence. Chloe sank back onto the couch, legs tucked under her. Damian sat beside her, close enough that their knees touched but not crowding. She stared at the tampered papers on the table, the warning note still sitting there like a threat.

“I’m falling for you,” she said suddenly, voice quiet but steady. She kept her eyes on the papers at first, then turned to meet his gaze. “Despite the lies that started this. Despite your mother and Marcus and all the cameras and poison. I’m falling for the man who stayed in the hospital, who eats my midnight cookies, who’s trying to give me space even when it kills him. I’m terrified it’ll all blow up, but I’m in it. With you. For real.”

Damian’s hand found hers on the couch cushion. He laced their fingers together, grip firm. “You have no idea what that means to me.”

Her phone buzzed on the table. The lab number again. Damian answered fast and put it on speaker.

“Mr. King, Mrs. King,” the technician said, sounding shaken. “We’ve identified the issue. The primary technician who handled the intake and initial processing had unauthorized access to the samples. We reviewed her background. She’s on payroll through a shell company linked directly to your mother’s private accounts. The contamination was deliberate. We’ve suspended her and notified authorities, but the damage to the primary samples is extensive.”

Chloe’s grip on Damian’s hand tightened until her nails dug into his skin. She stared at the phone, the words sinking in like ice water. His mother had reached even the DNA tests. The one thing that could have given them solid ground had been poisoned too.

She looked at Damian, fresh fear and fury mixing in her chest as the technician kept talking about next steps. The walls of their temporary safe house suddenly felt thinner than ever.