Unwanted Blood (Harper) novel Chapter 6

Chapte 6

Chapter 6

I reached for the giant teddy bear propped against the headboard. She gave it to me when I turned six. I used to drag it everywhere. Now it just sat there collecting dust. I pulled it into my lap and pressed my face into the soft fur.

Nothing. No trace of her lavender smell left. Just old fabric and time.

My voice came out cracked and small. “Mom… Harper’s missing. They can’t find her. I don’t believe she’s dead. I should feel free. I should feel… something good. So why does it hurt this much? Did I do this? Was it me?”

My hand brushed the small pocket on the bear’s little red vest. Something hard poked against my fingers. Paper.

I froze.

Carefully, I reached in and pulled out a folded note. The handwriting on the front stopped my heart cold.

“To my dearest Ryder.”

My pulse hammered in my ears. Mom wrote this? For me?

The paper had yellowed at the edges, soft from years of being tucked away. I unfolded it with shaking hands.

The first line stole every bit of air from my lungs.

Dear Ryder,

I’m so sorry I couldn’t stay to watch you grow older, to see all the

0.00%

4

M

1403

Chapter 6

beautiful things life has in store for you.

Before I passed, I wanted to tell you something, but in the end I couldn’t bring myself to do it. I wasn’t sure if my suspicion was correct.

The moment Harper was born, I looked at her and saw features so like your father’s.

I remembered that one month before the assault, your father and I had

sex…

So I kept it from everyone, even him. I arranged for a DNA test at the hospital without telling a soul.

I’m writing this while still waiting for the results.

I’ve instructed the lab: if I pass away before the results arrive, they are to give the envelope to my maid, Mary, and never tell her what’s inside.

If Mary followed my instructions, the result is folded inside this very letter.

I don’t know what it says.

Ryder… if you haven’t been kind to Harper, and if she turns out to be your full sister… please don’t hate yourself forever,

Just promise me you’ll make it right.

Whether you tell your brothers is up to you.

I read the words again. Then a third time. My hands shook so hard the paper rattled like dry leaves.

Tucked inside the fold was another envelope, hospital logo, lab stamp, and sealed.

30 20%

4

M

14:04

Chapter 6

I tore it open.

The single sheet inside had official letterhead. Bold black text.

Probability of Paternity: > 99%

Harper Wilson is the biological daughter of Johnson Wilson.

No.

No. No. No. No.

This wasn’t real.

This couldn’t be real.

2P7

I was dreaming. I had lost my mind. The letter was fake. Someone planted it. Harper planted it before she left. Anything. Anything but this.

But when I looked again, the words were still there. Clear as day.

Harper was my full sister.

Not half. Not the product of some monster who hurt Mom.

My father’s daughter. Our sister.

And I had spent sixteen years hating her. Torturing her. Letting my brothers torture her. Making sure she knew every single day that she didn’ t belong. That she was a curse. That she killed our mother.

The room spun. I dropped the papers onto the bed and bent forward, hands on my knees, trying to breathe. My chest felt like it was caving in.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify