Chapter 1

Before I could give it much thought, my wife, Lauren Ingram, knocked on the car window. Our twin sons, Mason and Cayden Cox, stood beside her.

Normally, I would've greeted them with a smile. This time, however, my throat tightened as I stared at Mason and Cayden, because the longer I looked at them, the more undeniable one troubling fact became.

They looked nothing alike.

"What are you staring at?" Lauren teased as she climbed into the back seat. "Don't you recognize your own sons?"

I didn't answer. Instead, I lowered my head and clicked on the profile of the user whose comment had gone viral.

The person's age and IP location matched those of my childhood friend, Gregory Hayes. Even the profile picture showed a mole on the back of his hand, identical to Gregory's.

A chill swept through me.

Still, I knew it would be unfair to suspect my wife and children without proof. Rather than drive myself crazy with speculation, I needed a paternity test.

I glanced at Lauren and the boys through the rearview mirror.

Noticing my gaze, Lauren frowned. "What's gotten into you today? Start driving. Let's go home."

"We're not going home," I told her.

"Then, where are we going?"

"The hospital."

I tamped down my emotions and kept my voice even. "The boys need bloodwork for a medical checkup."

Lauren looked at the twins, who had already fallen asleep, and complained, "They're perfectly healthy. Why put them through all that for no reason? You know Cayden is terrified of needles. If he throws a fit, don't expect me to help you calm him down."

Her refusal sounded casual, but I caught the brief flash of alarm in her eyes.

Without responding, I pulled up my conversation with Mason and Cayden's homeroom teacher and handed Lauren my phone.

"Their teacher requested it. The school needs the results for its records."

Her brows furrowed. "Then, why didn't I know about it?"

I turned and gave her a silent look.

She immediately stopped talking. It was the guilty silence of someone who already knew the answer.

Whether it involved parent-teacher conferences or keeping up with the class announcements, I had always handled everything concerning our sons.

Their teacher knew which parent was actually involved and whom to contact when something needed to get done.

Besides, I wasn't lying about the medical checkup. Their teacher really had requested one, although that was several months ago.

Once Lauren realized the request was legitimate, the tension left her face. She leaned back against the seat and lazily drifted off to sleep.

She was still half asleep when we arrived at the hospital.

After Mason and Cayden climbed out of the car, they looked at her expectantly. I made a token effort to ask, "Are you coming with us?"

Lauren waved dismissively. "It's just a medical checkup. You're their father. You can handle it."

I smiled.

Her answer didn't surprise me. She had always believed that after giving birth to the boys, every responsibility that followed belonged to me.

Now that the teacher's request had erased her suspicions, she refused without giving the matter another thought.

That was exactly what I wanted.

Before getting out of the car, I collected several strands of Gregory's hair from the front passenger seat.

Once inside the hospital, I registered the boys, took them through the testing process, and settled in to wait.

Several hours later, I finally received two reports, but the moment I read the results, my legs nearly gave out.

According to the first report, it proved that Mason, my older son, was biologically mine.

But for Cayden, as the second report showed that Gregory was his biological father.

In other words, although the boys were twins, my younger son wasn't biologically mine. Cayden was Gregory's child.

The clueless fool mentioned in that post really was me.

I gripped the papers so tightly that they crumpled in my hands. The whole situation was almost too ridiculous to believe.

If I hadn't stumbled upon the truth today, how many more years would I have spent raising the child Lauren had with Gregory?

Hatred and fury surged through me.

Then, I remembered that three months ago, I had invested my entire fortune in Gregory's company.

If Lauren and Gregory wanted to make a fool out of me, they couldn't blame me for pulling my investment.