I LEFT PREGNANT WITH HIS TWINS

Blood Doesn't Lie

"It's been a while, Zara."

"Max, come over here," Zara said, beckoning to the little boy.

"Mom, who is he?" Mandy, Zara's little daughter, asked.

"Dear, he's no one significant."

"Ouch, that hurts, Zara."

"Does it?" she replied rudely.

"Hey, could you hand over my ball back to me?" Max requested.

"Oh, sorry, little man." As he bent low to give the ball to Max, he noticed something in the little boy's eyes.

Zara snatched the ball from his hands, pulling little Max back and holding him tightly.

Alexander smiled.

"I must say, I am really impressed you got all this for yourself, Zara. Tell me, how did you do it? Did you meet someone who married you and then maybe... just maybe the person died and then gave you his property?"

Zara smiled. "If you are really eager to know about my grass to grace story, you can find that online."

"Why didn't you tell me who you were?"

"Would that have changed anything?"

"It would have changed a lot of things, Zara."

"Well, none of it matters anymore," she replied abruptly.

"Did you get married again?"

Zara scoffed and folded her arms. "Uhm... how is your mistress—oh, I am sorry—your legally married wife now? How are you two getting along?"

Alexander's stomach churned. Lately, he and his mistress Lena had not been seeing eye to eye on a lot of things.

"We are fine."

"And yeah, I remember now, how's your child? I believe he or she should be about five years old."

"How about their father?" Alexander asked, ignoring Zara's question.

"Their father?" She paused. "He's fine."

"Mummy, is he our father?" little Mandy asked.

"Come on, darling, no he's not."

"But every description you told us about our daddy fits with him?"

Zara's heart began to beat faster. She had described how their father looked to her twins when they kept asking about their father.

She never told them who he was or where he was, but she described how he looked to them.

"He is not your dad. There are millions of people out there with those descriptions I gave you. You wouldn't want to call every one of them your father, right?"

They both nodded, feeling disappointed.

"Now you both follow Bernard back to the car. I'll come join you soon, and make sure to stay in the car."

Alexander watched the kids closely. Everything about them reminded him of his toddler days. The kids were smart and agile, just like he was.

He wished his five-year-old son was like either of them.

"My regards to your wife and kid," Zara's voice echoed through his ears, bringing him back from the oceans of thought he was already sinking in.

"How did...? Were they adopted?"

Zara scoffed. "I see you still don't believe I could have my own children."

"The doctors said you couldn't..."

"The doctors aren't the owner of my life," Zara cut in angrily. "They don't have the final say over my life."

"There's no way you could have..."

"Gotten pregnant? Well, I f****d a real man! That's what I did, Alexander! A real man."

"We tried for five years, Zara. You kept on losing the babies before the third month You think you can fool me?"

"Fool you?" Zara laughed hysterically. "Have you forgotten I am the reason for this conference? You think I will be so shallow as to make you—my target?" She moved closer now. "You think I will stoop so low to adopt kids just to spite you?"

Alexander knew deep down that those kids weren't adopted. He could see Zara's eyes in the little boy, see her red hair on the little girl. But he couldn't just bring himself to believe that the woman he had abandoned went from grass to grace and gave birth to healthy twins.

"Then how did you get them?"

Zara was closer this time, eyeball to eyeball. "Clearly, I made love to a man who is more fertile than you."

"For five years, Zara, you lied to me? You are the daughter of the Rosendale family."

"Alexander, my kids and husband are waiting for me in the car. Have a nice day."

Zara stormed out of the parking lot, leaving Alexander to his thoughts.

****

A month later

"Hey, mister, aren't you the one we saw the other day?"

Alexander looked down to see Mandy poking his legs.

"Oh, little one, you've got a good memory."

"Yes, my mom always told me that I had the memory of my father."

Alexander suddenly felt the urge to ask about her father. As he was about to ask, he saw something familiar on her neck.

"Little one, can I take a look at something on your neck?" he asked politely.

Mandy nodded her head, smiling. Alexander raised her red hair, and what he saw made him almost lose his balance.

"Oh, are you looking at the mark? My brother also has one on his back," she said happily.

"Get your filthy hands away from my daughter!" Zara yelled from a distance, running ahead. She forcefully pulled Mandy away, placing Mandy and Max behind her the way a mother hen would shield her chicks.

"Zara!"

"Security! Security!!" Zara yelled.

The security personnel at the hallway of the Hudson Yards, the most expensive shopping center in Manhattan, rushed toward them.

"Mrs. Rosendale, is everything alright?" the lead security guard asked, his hand hovering near his radio.

Alexander raised his hands defensively. "Wait, there's been a misunderstanding—"

"This man was touching my daughter inappropriately," Zara declared, her voice carrying through the hallway.

"That's not true!" Alexander protested. "I was just looking at—"

"Escort him out. Now."

As two guards moved toward Alexander, he locked eyes with Zara. "Those birthmarks," he said, his voice low and urgent. "The same birthmarks my grandmother had. The ones that run in my family."

Zara's face paled, but her expression remained ice-cold.

"Mommy, what's wrong?" Max asked, tugging at her sleeve.

"Sir, you need to come with us," the guard said, gripping Alexander's arm.

Alexander didn't resist, but his gaze never left Zara's face. "We need to talk. Privately."

"We have nothing to discuss," Zara replied, but her trembling hands betrayed her.

As the guards led Alexander away, he called over his shoulder, "I'm getting a paternity test, Zara. Whether you cooperate or not."

Zara stood frozen, her children pressed against her sides, as a familiar voice spoke from behind her.

"Well, well. Isn't this interesting?"