З життя
He’s Not My Little One
**He Is Not My Child**
“He is not my son,” the millionaire declared coldly, his voice echoing through the marble foyer. “Pack your things and leave. Both of you.” He pointed to the door. His wife clutched the baby to her chest, eyes brimming with tears. If only he knew
The storm outside mirrored the one raging within the house. Lillian stood motionless, knuckles white as she held little Timothy close. Her husband, Edmund Whitmore, billionaire magnate and head of the Whitmore dynasty, glared at her with a fury unseen in their ten years of marriage.
“Edmund, please,” Lillian whispered, voice trembling. “You dont understand what youre saying.”
“I understand perfectly,” he snapped. “That boy is not mine. I had the DNA test done last week. The results are clear.”
The accusation struck deeper than any blow. Lillians knees nearly buckled.
“You did the test without telling me?”
“I had to. He doesnt look like me. Doesnt act like me. And I couldnt ignore the rumours any longer.”
“Rumours? Edmund, hes a baby! And he *is* your son! I swear on everything sacred!”
But Edmund had made up his mind.
“Your belongings will be sent to your fathers house. Dont come back. Ever.”
Lillian hesitated, hoping this was just another one of his outburststhe kind that always faded by morning. But the ice in his voice left no doubt. She turned and walked away, heels clicking on marble as thunder boomed overhead.
Lillian had grown up modestly but married into privilegeelegant, poised, sharp-witted, everything society admired and envied. None of it mattered now.
As the limousine carried her and Timothy back to her fathers cottage in the Cotswolds, her mind reeled. She had been faithful. Loved Edmund, stood by him when markets crashed, when the press tore him down, even when his mother sneered at her. And now, he cast her out like a stranger.
Her father, Thomas Hawthorn, opened the door, eyes wide.
“Lillian? What happened?”
She collapsed into his arms. “He said Timothy isnt his He threw us out.”
Thomass jaw tightened. “Come inside, love.”
In the following days, Lillian adjusted to her old lifesmall rooms, her childhood bedroom unchanged, Timothy blissfully unaware, offering her fleeting comfort.
But one thing gnawed at her: the DNA test. How could it be wrong?
Desperate, she visited the lab where Edmund had it done. She had contactsfavours owed. What she uncovered turned her blood to ice.
The test had been tampered with.
Meanwhile, Edmund wandered the empty mansion, tormented by silence. He told himself hed done the right thingcouldnt raise another mans child. Yet guilt ate at him. He avoided Timothys nursery, until curiosity won. Seeing the empty crib, the plush giraffe, tiny shoes in the wardrobesomething inside him shattered.
His mother, Lady Beatrice, offered no comfort.
“I warned you, Edmund,” she said, sipping tea. “That Hawthorn girl was never worthy of you.”
Even she blinked when Edmund didnt reply.
Days passed. A week.
Then a letter arrived.
No return address. Just a note and a photograph.
Edmunds hands shook as he read.
*Edmund,
You were wrong. Completely.
You wanted proofhere it is. I found the original results. The test was falsified. And this photo, hidden in your mothers study You know what it means.
Lillian.*
The truth crashed down like a tombstone. He had seen the photograph beforehis mother and the family solicitor, caught in a damning embrace. The motive laid bare: a threatened inheritance, a legitimate heir standing in the way. All his pride, his rage, had been weapons to rob him of his son.
The letter from the only woman whod ever truly loved him revealed the cost of distrust and silence. The greatest wealth, he learned too late, isnt measured in bank accounts, but in those who accept you whollyin the truths you choose to share.
Lillians words echoed, the loudest sound in the empty mansiona ghostly wail haunting him, a reminder of the family pride had destroyed. Some doubts, when left unanswered, become storms that leave nothing standing.
