Broken Vows and Buried Twins novel Chapter 36

Julian watched her seethe, letting out a faint sigh that sounded almost like resignation. He picked up the desk phone. "Bring the file in."

A moment later, Neil pushed the door open. Carrying a manila folder, he hurried over to the desk.

"Sir, everything is here." Neil handed the folder over.

Julian leaned lazily against his leather chair. "Show it to my wife."

Neil turned to Hester and offered the folder. "Mrs. Weston, please take a look."

Hester didn't take it right away. She eyed the file with a deep frown. "What is this?"

"You'll know when you read it," Julian said, his tone flat.

Hester hesitated for a second before finally snatching the folder from Neil.

The file was extensive. Inside was another DNA report and a stack of photographs. The man in the photos looked like a carbon copy of Julian, except for a distinct blue mole near the corner of his eye. The attached DNA report also confirmed paternity.

Sample 1: Father, Adrian Weston.

Sample 2: Son, Caden Weston.

Hester's brow knitted tightly. "Who is Adrian Weston?"

"My identical twin brother."

Hester froze. She had never, in all the years she'd known him, heard that Julian had an identical twin.

He didn't just make it to twenty. At twenty-five, he met a woman named Seraphina. They fell deeply in love and quickly got married abroad.

When Adrian was twenty-six, Seraphina got pregnant. But before the baby was born, Adrian was killed in a sudden car crash.

The following spring, Seraphina gave birth to Caden. The devastating loss of her husband, compounded by severe postpartum depression, caused her to suffer a complete mental breakdown. She was committed to a long-term psychiatric facility and was declared unfit to raise her son.

"Adrian and I were identical twins. Medically speaking, we share the exact same genetic sequence. So when you run a standard DNA test between me and Caden, of course it's going to show a 99.9% match."

Julian's voice was low and steady, his eyes locked onto Hester.

"Hester, the only reason I didn't tell you was because you had just lost our babies. You were physically and emotionally fragile. If I had just brought Caden home and told you to raise him, I was terrified you wouldn't accept it."

"Terrified I wouldn't accept it?" Hester let out a bitter, mocking laugh. "So your solution was to legally adopt Caden under both our names, making me his mother on paper while keeping me entirely in the dark? And what about the fact that he calls you 'Dad' and Melody 'Mom'? You've been playing house at Silverstream Villa like a perfect little family of three! How exactly do you explain that?"