Chapter 3 — One DNA Test, Two Truths

What kind of test are we taking?

My father-in-law, Founder, suddenly raised his head, his eyes brimming with astonishment and bewilderment. Pure Bloom’s complexion instantly turned ashen. She shrieked, lunging directly toward me.

What kind of nonsense are you spouting, you vile wretch! What are you trying to pull!

I leaned backward, effortlessly evading her flailing hands. The brown envelope was snatched away by my father-in-law. His hands trembled violently, tearing haphazardly several times before he finally managed to rip the flap open. He pulled out the few sheets of paper, his eyes fixed dead on the print. The living room grew so silent that only his heavy, ragged breathing could be heard. Court also leaned in, lowering his head to gaze at the test report. A moment later, his entire body staggered. He did not scream out that this was impossible. Nor was there sheer astonishment on his face. Instead, he let out a bitter, self-deprecating laugh, his expression a tangled mess of profound relief and utter despair.

So... it was all true after all...

He muttered under his breath, sounding hollow.

Living a lie our entire lives, and yet, in the end, we still could not escape it...

My father-in-law’s breathing grew increasingly rapid and shallow. He snapped his head up. His once refined and scholarly features were now twisted beyond recognition. He glared demented hatred at Pure Bloom, then violently hurled the report right into her face. The scattered sheets fluttered down, drifting haphazardly across the polished floor. At the very bottom of the topmost page lay a single line in stark, bold print: The biological possibility of the father being Founder is definitively excluded.

Pure Bloom!

My father-in-law was trembling so intensely with rage that his entire frame shook, his trembling finger pointed straight at her face.

Have you forgotten how your own mother-in-law forced you to undergo blood tests back then?!

All the anguish and humiliation you were forced to endure, and yet you turned around and inflicted it upon others with even greater cruelty! Just what in the world is the meaning of this!

That single condemnation completely shattered Pure Bloom. In her youth, hailing from an utterly ordinary background, she had been subjected to every conceivable form of humiliation by her mother-in-law, who deemed her bloodline hopelessly common. That festering humiliation had morph into a phantom haunting her for the rest of her days. She threw her arms around Court, weeping hysterically and pathetically.

I... I did not mean to...

It only happened once...

She choked out intermittent confessions of an old romance from her youth. The entire living room erupted into murmurs. Court’s body went completely limp. He shoved Pure Bloom aside, stumbling backward two heavy steps. Right at that moment, Court seemed to snap back to his senses. He whipped around, his eyes shot with blood, glaring directly into mine. He lunged toward me like a madman, his hands clamping onto my wrists with a terrifying, vice-like grip.

Why did you have to do this!

He roared right into my face.

Could you not just keep this secret buried in your stomach?!

Could we not continue living just like before, pretending to be ignorant fools until the day we die?! Must you expose it for all the world to see!

I stared at his distorted, frantic features, feeling a profound sense of absurdity. He was blaming me. He actually had the audacity to blame me. What he loathed was not the bitter truth itself. He despised me for shattering the fragile shell that allowed him to scrape by in denial, while using that very delusion to emotionally shackle his own mother. Pure Bloom, standing nearby, immediately snapped into action as well. She hauled herself up from the floor, lunging forward to echo his sentiments.

Indeed! It is all the fault of this vicious woman!

She is the one trying to tear our family apart! She simply cannot bear to see us live in peace!

Mother and son worked in frantic tandem, tossing accusations back and forth. They desperately heaped every ounce of blame onto my shoulders. I looked at their repulsive, panicked faces and burst into laughter.

It is too late.

My voice was not loud, yet it cleanly cut through their screeching curses. I violently shook Court’s grip off my wrists and pulled out my phone. The screen displayed the notification interface confirming an email had been successfully dispatched. In the recipient field were the addresses of several prominent, high-profile media outlets.

From the very day your husband demanded I undergo a paternity test, I raised my phone so they could read the screen clearly.

I have already anonymously forwarded this exquisite tale of wealthy scandal, complete with every single audio recording currently in my possession, straight to the editors-in-chief notorious for breaking the city’s most sensational gossip.

The complexions of both Court and Pure Bloom instantly drained of all remaining color.

I informed them quite clearly, I continued, my cadence unhurried yet every single syllable ringing with absolute finality.

Should I fail to contact them to call off the publication before five o’clock this afternoon, they are under strict instructions to run the story right on schedule.

It was now eight o'clock in the evening. I watched the terror steadily blooming within their eyes.

Oh, and by the way, I added with a sweet smile.

I also conveniently utilized an express courier service across the city to dispatch duplicate copies of this exact test report directly to every single member of the Board of Directors at the Enterprise.

Along with your family’s most formidable corporate rival, Director Lee.

I cast a sideways glance at Court.

After all, when the bloodline of a publicly traded company’s sole heir happens to suffer from a rather fundamental flaw, I smiled brightly.

That sort of revelation tends to have a rather catastrophic impact on share prices, wouldn’t you agree?

Save... save me...

A feeble, agonizing groan drifted from the sofa. My father-in-law clutched desperately at his chest, his skin turning a sickly bluish-green, his lips tinted purple as he struggled in vain to draw breath.

Father!

Eldest brother!

The gathered relatives instantly plunged into pandemonium. Some shrieked in horror, while others fumbled frantically to locate emergency medication.

Ah!

Pure Bloom let out a shrill, soul-piercing shriek. As she watched her husband collapse, her eyes rolled backward, and her own limbs turned instantly slack as she crashed heavily to the floor.

Hurry! Call an ambulance immediately!

The entire household was thrown into absolute, irreversible chaos.