David froze in the doorway for a second before he walked inside. His face changed the moment he saw Marina standing there. She should not be in his office. He didn’t like surprises, and she was the last person he wanted to see right now.
“Marina, what are you doing here?” His voice came out tight. He was already tired, and this pushed his patience even lower.
The moment she heard him, Marina’s whole face changed. She acted like a scared little thing and tried to smile sweetly.
“David… I just came to see you.” She took slow steps toward him, reaching out for his hand like she always did, hoping he would hold her fingers.
But David pulled his hand away before she could touch him. He didn’t even look at her. His eyes went straight to Danish.
The boy stood stiff, shoulders raised, both little hands curled into fists. His chest moved fast, and his eyes were sharp with anger and hurt. He looked like he was fighting back tears and rage at the same time.
David frowned. “Danish, what’s wrong?” He walked toward him, reaching out.
But the moment David tried to hold his small hand, Danish jerked away so hard that David’s heart dropped.
“Don’t touch me!” Danish yelled, his voice shaking but loud. “You lied to me!”
David froze. Roy walked in behind him at the same moment, and he too stopped in shock at the sight.
David slowly turned his head to Marina. The anger in his eyes was clear. “Marina, what did you say to him?”
“When I left him, he was fine,” David said through his teeth. “You were the only one here. What did you do?”
“I didn’t say anything to him, David! I swear! I don’t even know who he is!” Marina lifted her hands like she was innocent, her voice high and shaky.
David shut his eyes for a moment. He was losing patience. When he opened them again, they were cold.
He knelt down a little, trying to level his eyes with Danish. “Danish, tell me what happened, son. Why are you upset? Talk to me.”
Danish’s throat moved. His big eyes darted to Marina for a second, scared and angry, then back to David.
“I want to go to Mum,” he said, his voice trembling. “You lied to me. I don’t want to stay with you.”
David’s heart squeezed. Panic grew inside him. If Lily saw Danish crying like this, if she found out something happened in his office, she would kill him. She would take Danish and never let him near again. He knew Lily. When it came to her son, she had no softness.
“Danish… listen.” David tried to stay calm.
“I’ll take you to your mum. I promise. But you don’t want your mother to get scared, right? So you need to tell your father what happened.”
Danish’s little jaw tightened. He took one shaky breath and stared straight into David’s eyes.
“You’re not my father.”
The words hit David like a slap. His whole body went still.
“What… what are you saying?” he whispered.
He reached out again, and this time he grabbed Danish’s wrists gently but firmly, unable to hide how shaken he was.


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