02

Hannah's POV

The envelope tore open with a soft sound, and every person in the room turned to look.

Brett stood under the big crystal light in the ceiling and pulled out a folded report. Diane waited by the fireplace with her champagne glass in her hand, and she looked happy about something. I stayed near the sofa and held Leo while he slept against my chest.

"What is it?" I asked as I walked toward my husband.

Brett did not answer. He read the paper, and the color left his face right away. His fingers squeezed one corner of the page until it got wrinkled.

He looked up at me with his lip curled, and he was breathing hard through his nose. "What have you done?" He pushed the paper at me. "Read it."

I moved Leo to one side and took the report.

It said DNA PATERNITY TEST.

Probability of paternity: 0%.

Brett Ashcroft is not the biological father of Leo Ashcroft.

I read it two times, and it still did not make sense to me.

"No," I said and shook my head. "This is wrong. Someone made a mistake. There must have been a mix-up at the lab, Brett, because this is impossible."

Brett gave a short, angry laugh. "You're blaming the lab? That's your answer in front of my whole family?"

Leo moved a little in my arms, so I rocked him and kissed his forehead. I had never been with another man. I had never even wanted another man.

"I'm telling you the truth, Brett. Look at me. You know me. You know I would never do this to you," I said and reached for his hand. He pulled his hand away fast.

"Then whose child is he?"

That question hurt more than a slap.

"Yours! You were in the room when he was born. You filmed him for I*******m. You held him and called him your boy. He's your son, Brett, and he's right here."

"I asked you whose child he is!"

His loud voice woke Leo, and Leo started to cry hard. I turned my body to protect him from the noise.

Brett grabbed my upper arm and pulled me closer. His fingers dug into my skin through my thin blue dress. "Who is he, Hannah? Give me a name. I want the name of the man you've been sleeping with behind my back while I sat in those clinics with you every week."

"There's no one! I swear on my life there has never been anyone else," I cried and tried to pull free without shaking Leo. "Brett, you're hurting me."

"Let go of her, Brett," one of his cousins said from the drinks table.

Brett let go and wiped his hand on his pants. No one else said anything or came to help me.

Diane put her glass on the mantel. "The test doesn't lie, Hannah. You do."

I turned to face her. "You arranged this. You stood over his bassinet the day he was born and asked about his coloring. You've been waiting two weeks for this moment."

"I suspected nothing," Diane said and smoothed the front of her cream dress. "I simply noticed the child doesn't look like our family. My son had every right to know the truth."

"You let her do this?" I asked Brett.

He looked at the floor.

"Brett, please. Think about what you're doing. We spent three years trying to have this baby. You sat next to me through the injections and both miscarriages. You know what those years cost us, and you know I would never throw them away for another man. Look at your son."

Brett stepped back from me. "Don't use our struggles to manipulate me."

He reached for Leo, and I pulled back.

"Give him to me. I'm his father until a court says otherwise."

He took Leo away from me before I could stop him. Leo's little fists moved under the blanket.

"Brett, give him back! He's two weeks old, and you're scaring him!" I ran after him into the entrance hall.

Guests moved to the side so he could walk past them. Diane followed him at a slow and steady pace.

At the front door Brett grabbed Leo's car seat from the hall table and strapped him in. He had trouble with the buckle once. Then he opened the door.

Cold air rushed inside. Snow had been falling since the afternoon, and it was already piled up on the driveway and the stone steps. Snowflakes spun around under the porch lights.

Brett put the car seat down on the snowy steps.

My baby was outside in the snow.

"What the hell are you doing?" I pushed past him, but he blocked the doorway with his body.

"You have five seconds to leave this house."

"You can't throw us out, Brett. I'm your wife, and that's your son out there in the cold!"

"Not anymore. Remember the prenup you signed? An unfaithful wife leaves with nothing. You don't get my money, my house, my car, or my name. Not one cent."

I was twenty-four when Diane's lawyer put that prenup on the table. Brett told me not to worry about it, so I signed without reading every page. Now my own signature was taking everything from me.

"I didn't cheat," I said. "You know I didn't."

"Get out. And take another man's bastard with you."

He pushed my shoulder. I stumbled outside and grabbed my coat from the rack as I left. My house slippers slid on the icy stone, and the cold went straight through them.

I was shaking as I picked Leo up from the seat. Snowflakes stuck to his blanket, and his cheeks were bright red from crying. I wrapped him inside my coat and held it tight around us.

"Shh, baby. I've got you," I whispered.

Diane stood in the doorway and fixed her bracelet. "Perhaps you should call someone to pick you up. I'm sure you have friends who can help."

"He's your grandson, Diane. Two weeks ago you sent white roses to the hospital. How can you stand there and watch your son put a newborn outside in the middle of January?"

"I protected my son," Diane said. "You should have thought about the consequences before you betrayed him."

Brett shouted over her shoulder. "Go!"

The door slammed shut, and the lock clicked.

Through the tall windows I watched the guests go back to their champagne.

I had no car. The keys were in Brett's pocket, and the car was in his name. My handbag was still inside with my wallet, my ID, and every paper that showed who I was.

I had my phone and a baby who needed to get warm.

I hurried down the steps, and the wind cut through my dress.

My phone buzzed in my hand. For one second I hoped it was Brett telling me to come back.

Brett Ashcroft has posted a new update.

The DNA report filled the screen. Under it was a photo of Brett holding Leo at the hospital and smiling down at him. That was the day he called Leo our miracle.

His caption said: Five years of marriage. Three years of trying for a child. And this is how my wife repays me. I refuse to raise another man's bastard.

My knees started to shake. Someone shared the post, and then a stranger shared it again. The number under it went up while I stood in the snow, and every share had my name on it.