Shadows Drift Beyond Memory by Xarin Vale novel Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Callum panicked instantly.

“Babe, what paternity test? I didn’t do anything.”

I laughed coldly.

“You already set up a time with some guy online. You were gonna take our daughter’s toothbrush this afternoon and get the test done, weren’t

you?”

Callum shook his head frantically:

“No, I swear I didn’t. I just posted that because I wasn’t thinking straight.”

I wasn’t interested in his excuses. I held out my hand.

“Show me the results.”

“Let’s see if she’s yours. Wouldn’t want to find out I’ve been cheating on you, right?”

My tone was so cold and flat it scared him

He kept shaking his head. “I really didn’t go, Rory. Please. You have to believe me.”

“Don’t do this.”

“You didn’t go?” Callum nodded hard.

I tossed the phone back at him.

“Then let’s all go get a paternity test together. That way you won’t have to keep asking strangers online for advice.”

Before he could act, I picked up our daughter and dragged him toward the garage.

“And call your boys, especially Sienna. Let’s have them all come watch. See if my daughter’s really yours!”

Callum looked like he was about to cry.

“Babe, please. We don’t have to do this. I was wrong. I know I messed up.”

I shoved him into the car, grabbed his phone, and sent a message in the We Love Sienna Forever group chat:

[Heading to City General for a paternity test. Come through.]

Sienna replied first:

[FINALLY! You’re thinking straight!]

[Don’t worry, bro. No matter what happens, we got your back.]

[Girls are temporary. Bros are forever. We’d never betray you.]

But when Sienna and the others showed up at the hospital and saw me standing there, they all froze.

18:43

His Girl Bro Lied ‘Not His Baby‘–DNA Played Along, But Baby IS His!

2.3%

Chapter 4

Then Sienna laughed and slapped Callum on the shoulder.

“Damn, bro. You finally stopped being whipped. Good for you.”

She turned to me with a smug smile.

“Don’t be mad at him. What guy’s gonna be okay raising another man’s kid, right?”

“Better to do this now while she’s still little. Once he knows for sure, he can relax. You get it.”

I nodded, unbothered. “Yeah. I get it.”

Soon enough, the doctor called me, Callum, and our daughter in for blood draws.

When they stuck the needle in her tiny arm, she didn’t understand what was happening at first. Then she started wailing.

I watched her little face scrunch up, her eyes flooding with tears, and my heart shattered.

All the cold indifference I’d been faking crumbled right there.

I held her tight and whispered over and over.

“I’m sorry.”

I’m sorry I picked the wrong father for you.

I’m sorry you have to go through this when you’re so small.

We waited at the hospital for hours. Finally, the test results came back.

The doctor walked out holding the report.

Sienna snatched it out of his hands before anyone else could react.

She read it, then looked up at Callum, hand over her mouth, eyes wide with fake shock.

“Oh my God. She’s NOT yours! Rory cheated on you!!”

♡ (1)

TO Tal