Chapter 3 - Before Sunset
The paternity test was arranged within the hour.
Sebastian used his name once, and hospital administration moved quickly.
But Rowan refused special treatment.
“No private lab,” she said. “No Caldwell doctor. No Caldwell employee. No one connected to your family.”
Sebastian nodded.
“Anything you want.”
The nurse collected a cheek swab from Daniel while Rowan held him close.
Then she swabbed Sebastian.
The test would be expedited through an independent laboratory.
Results by evening.
Until then, Sebastian remained in the hallway outside Rowan’s room.
He did not go upstairs.
He did not call Miranda.
He ignored his father’s messages.
At noon, the first call came.
Sebastian, where are you?
He did not answer.
At 12:17:
The Whitlows are insulted.
At 12:31:
Do not embarrass this family.
At 12:45:
Get upstairs immediately.
Sebastian turned off his phone.
For the first time in his life, he allowed his father’s anger to exist without responding to it.
At 1:00, Rowan’s brother, Luke Hale, arrived.
He was taller than Sebastian remembered, broad-shouldered and exhausted, carrying a paper bag of sandwiches and coffee.
When Luke saw Sebastian, his face darkened.
“You have nerve coming here.”
Sebastian stood.
“I know.”
Luke stepped closer.
“If Rowan lets you stay, that is her decision. But if you hurt her again—”
“I will not.”
Luke laughed bitterly.
“You already did.”
Rowan called from inside the room.
“Luke.”
He looked toward her, then back at Sebastian.
“You have no idea what she went through.”
Sebastian’s throat tightened.
“Tell me.”
Luke stared at him.
“She spent the first three months of her pregnancy checking her phone every hour, hoping you would call. She had complications. She was put on bed rest. She moved into our mother’s old house because she could not afford her apartment after you cut off the shared account.”
Sebastian looked down.
“I did not cut it off.”
“Your father did,” Luke said. “Under your name.”
The hallway spun.
Sebastian remembered authorizing his father to manage personal financial arrangements after the breakup. He had not checked the details.
He had let his father make Rowan suffer because he had been too weak to face the truth.
At 3:30, Dr. Evelyn Mercer entered Rowan’s room.
She was the obstetrician who had delivered Daniel.
Sebastian stood when she came out.
“Dr. Mercer,” he said, “how is Rowan?”
The doctor studied him.
“She is recovering. She lost a significant amount of blood. She needs rest and stability.”
“I can provide anything she needs.”
“That is not what she needs from you.”
Sebastian lowered his eyes.
“No,” he said. “I suppose it is not.”
At 5:42, an independent lab courier arrived.
At 5:59, the results were delivered.
Rowan refused to open the envelope alone.
Sebastian stood across from her bedside.
Luke stood beside the window.
Dr. Mercer remained near the door.
Rowan held Daniel against her chest as she opened the envelope.
Her hands shook.
She read the first line.
Then she looked at Sebastian.
“The probability of paternity is ninety-nine point nine nine percent.”
The room went silent.
Sebastian felt his knees weaken.
Daniel was his son.
Not in theory.
Not in hope.
In blood.
In truth.
His son.
Sebastian looked at the newborn and began to cry.
Quietly.
Without control.
Rowan watched him with tears in her own eyes, but she did not move toward him.
“You lost eight months,” she said.
Sebastian nodded.
“Yes.”
“And I lost the man I loved because he chose his father’s lie over me.”
“Yes.”
He looked at Daniel.
“I cannot get that time back.”
“No.”
“But I will spend the rest of my life earning whatever time you let me have.”
Rowan looked away.
May you like
Outside, the December sky darkened.
And somewhere across the city, Victor Caldwell learned that his son had finally discovered the truth.
