Chapter 4 - Ethan Stops Protecting His Parents
The next morning Ethan made the first decision his mother explicitly begged him not to make.
He called a genetic counselor.
Not a detective.
Not a lawyer.
Not an internet genealogy group.
A medical professional.
After hearing the situation, the counselor explained what Ethan already suspected: the home relationship test was useful as a clue, not as a final answer.
They arranged accredited chain-of-custody testing.
Ethan and Claire gave samples first.
Olivia’s pediatrician confirmed there was no medical reason to delay testing her once her parents consented.
Harold agreed almost immediately.
Diane refused.
That refusal told Ethan nearly as much as a result.
He drove to his parents’ house alone that evening.
Diane opened the door but did not invite him to sit.
“You went ahead with it.”
“Yes.”
“You always were stubborn.”
“You taught me.”
She flinched.
Ethan glanced toward the hallway.
“Where’s Dad?”
“At the club.”
“He plays golf on Thursdays.”
“It’s Thursday.”
“It’s raining.”
Diane folded her arms.
Even now, she was trying to control the smallest details.
“Who is my father?”
She stared toward the windows.
“I loved Harold.”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“I still do.”
“Mom.”
Her eyes filled, but Ethan felt almost no sympathy yet.
Finally she said, “His brother.”
Ethan went still.
“Uncle Michael?”
Michael Mercer had died when Ethan was six.
To Ethan he existed mostly in photographs: Harold’s younger brother, an architect with a loud laugh and a habit of wearing ridiculous ties.
Diane nodded.
“One night.”
Ethan pushed a hand through his hair.
“Did Dad know?”
“Not at first.”
“When did he find out?”
“When you were two.”
“And he stayed?”
“Yes.”
“Did Michael know?”
Diane’s face tightened.
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?”
“He suspected.”
Ethan turned away.
Every childhood photograph with Harold suddenly carried two meanings.
Father.
And man who had chosen to remain father after learning he was not.
That should have comforted Ethan.
Instead another question arrived.
“If Dad knew I wasn’t biologically his, then why was he terrified yesterday?”
Diane wiped beneath one eye.
“Because your DNA was never the secret he was most afraid of.”
Ethan looked back at her.
May you like
Diane’s voice turned bitter.
“Ask him where he was thirty-five years ago when Rebecca Shaw got pregnant.”
