Pains of love

CHAPTER 10

Requesting a DNA Test

I had trouble falling asleep.

James remained in the visitor's room. It was because the distance between us had become frigid and broad, not because we had a fight. As if we were waiting for something to blow up, holding our breath.

The sound of the glass breaking earlier was still reverberating in my ears as I lay in bed and stared at the ceiling. I still remember what he said on the phone.

"She is unable to recall. ... if Lily ever finds out the truth about what actually transpired that evening.

On what night? What had he concealed—or done?

The following morning arrived too quickly.

I arrived downstairs to find James already dressed. He remained silent. just gave me my luggage and a drink of water.

His voice was scratchy as he continued, "The clinic is waiting."

I gave a nod.

In the car, neither of us said anything. Like a third person sitting between us, there was a heavy quiet.

Amelia and the kid were already in the clinic when we got there.

His large brown eyes gazed up at me. Eyes that resembled me.

However, I was still unable to recall.

The nurse said, "Are you ready?"

I swallowed the knot in my throat and nodded once more.

The test, which involved brief and painless tongue swabs, took place in different rooms.

However, this was not a simple task.

Then Amelia drew James away from her. Her body language was acute, but I couldn't hear what she was saying. Hostile. James seemed worn out.

As they talked, I held the boy's hand.

"What's your name?" I asked quietly.

"Liam," he said.

My heart skipped a beat.

"Is your name appealing to you?" I muttered.

He gave a nod. According to my mother, I was named after a specific person. Someone with courage.

I grinned, hardly able to contain my emotions.

"Do you enjoy drawing?"

He smiled. Indeed! I draw robots, dinosaurs, and superheroes. I will become an artist.

Just like me. I also drew once. A long time before I forgot.

"When can I come view one of your drawings?"

His little fingers clenched around mine as he nodded once more.

Then Amelia came back.

“That’s enough,” she replied, drawing him away.

I didn't hear from her.

She simply walked out.

James approached and rubbed his forehead. "The findings will not be available for a few days."

"James," I murmured. "We must speak."

Slowly, he nodded.

We sat on the couch at home.

I asked, "Tell me what you were discussing last night." The phone call. The whole story of what transpired that evening.

He paused.

"Please," I said.

He let out a sigh. It isn't what you believe. It was my fault that night—the night you lost your memories.

I blinked. "Is it your fault?"

He gave a nod. We got into a fight. I did something years ago that you learned about. You were upset. You fled from the house. And the mishap occurred.

"What did I discover?"

James turned his head away. "Amelia and I—" It wasn't a single evening. Before you, we were together.

I went cold.

And before we even got serious, Liam had already been born. However, I was unaware. She didn't tell me. The same day you learned the truth, I did too.

I gazed at him. "And the reason you didn't tell me this now is...?"

With a low voice, he uttered, "I thought it would break us." The physicians advised against forcing anything once you lost your memory. So I said nothing.

Tears streamed down my face.

"James, I've been living a lie. All I trusted and all I knew was just half the truth.

"I understand," he muttered. "And I apologize."

I turned to go. I required room. I had to breathe.

However, the world seemed heavy even outside.

I sat in my painting studio that evening and gazed at a blank canvas.

Then I picked up a pencil.

And started drawing.

eyes.

Liam's gaze.

Something sparked within me as I sketched. A recollection, fuzzy and frail.

a medical facility.

The wail of a newborn.

A soft blanket.

And a voice.

Lily, you can't keep him. You're not feeling well.

I let out a gasp and let the pencil fall.

Behind me, the door creaked.

My sister was the one.

With her arms folded, she stood there.

"You're recalling, are you not?" She inquired.

Slowly, I nodded.

She approached.

She remarked, "I didn't want you to suffer." So I said a falsehood. "You don't want the baby, I informed them. that you relinquished him.

I gasped.

"Why?" I inquired.

Her eyes were sorrowful as she gazed at me. "Because I believed you would never recover." in addition to Amelia's financial offer. She pledged to look after the infant. And keep her at bay.

I took a step back.

"You sold my kid?" I muttered.

Her eyes welled with tears. "I believed it was better that way."

I was trembling. My entire universe has changed once more.

I needed to take a seat.

"I apologize," she said. But now, everything is returning. Additionally, you must get ready for what comes next.

"What do you mean?" I inquired.

She paused.

Then she spoke the words that made my blood freeze.

Liam is more than simply your kid... He may not belong to James.

My jaw dropped. "What?"

She extended a folder. At the time, Amelia was dating someone else. She also abandoned this.

My hands were shaking when I opened the folder.

There was a picture inside.

A man.

Recognizable eyes.

And a birth certificate underneath it.

Liam James Walters. However, the father's name was unspecified.

My sister remarked, "I don't think even Amelia is certain who the father is."

I gazed at the document.

At that moment, my phone began to buzz.

It came from the medical facility.

The DNA findings are available.

My heart was racing when I read the message.

However, before I could click on the link...

Someone grabbed my phone out of my grasp.

James.

And he deleted the message.

I froze, staring at him.

"What did you do?" I inquired.

James gave me a stern look.

"Because the truth transforms all things."

He put the phone into his pocket.

And turned to go.

After Amelia left, James was silent for a while.

With the papers on his lap, he simply sat there and gazed at nothing.

Like a balloon that was about to burst from too much inflation, I could feel the pressure rising in my chest.

Sitting opposite him was me. “James. Talk to me.”

His mouth tightened. "These are not the ones I recall signing. That is not something I would do. Unless I had a good reason.

"So what was the cause?" My question was hardly audible above a whisper.

His eyes were filled with shame as he gazed up at me. "Belief. Fear, perhaps. Or perhaps Amelia coerced me. said that the child wasn't mine. Perhaps I did believe her. Perhaps I simply gave up.

I gave a headshake. "You're not like that."

James shut the file and got to his feet. Tomorrow, you and I are heading to the clinic. Regardless of what Amelia says. I also require the truth.

I wanted to think he was real.

But that voice in my head—small and trembling—kept whispering:

*What if he’s concealing something?*

The following morning arrived too quickly.

We didn’t chat much in the car. When we drove up to the private clinic, my palms were wet.

In the waiting room, Amelia was already there, seated like a queen with the lad beside her, dangling his legs off the chair.

When he spotted James, he grinned.

However, his eyes froze as they met mine, as if he recognized me. A part of his tiny heart seemed perplexed.

My heart hurt.

With a clipboard in hand, the nurse inquired, "Are you ready?"

No. I wasn't.

However, I gave a nod.

First, the kid and I entered a room. They swiftly swabbed our lips.

No discomfort. Only pressure. A small deed that might make all the difference.

James then followed him inside.

The nurse gave me a piece of paper when they got back. "We'll send the findings by 5 p.m. today."

Today.

My bones trembled at that word.

Silently, we walked out of the clinic.

I couldn’t sit still after we got home. I continued strolling around the living room, glancing at the clock every five minutes.

James made an effort to reassure me, but his comments came out as aloof.

At 4:47 p.m., my phone finally buzzed.

Just one message. Just one link.

James moved to stand next to me.

I pushed the phone into his hand and said, "You open it."

After a moment of hovering, he tapped with his thumb.

I observed his eye movements.

From left to right.

Line by line.

Then he stopped.

I was having trouble breathing. "What is it saying?"

He swung the screen in my direction.

**Biological Mother Verified: 99.98% Match.**

On the screen, the words danced. Through my tears, it blurred.

I took a firm seat on the couch's edge.

"I own him," I said.

James sat next to me. “Lily —”

However, a harsh knock rang through the house before he could continue.

I dabbed at my face and slowly got to my feet.

Amelia was standing at the entrance.

"I also received the findings," she remarked.

Her expression was not one of surprise.

Not surprisingly.

"You knew," I muttered. “You knew all along.”

She nodded. “Of course I knew. I simply wanted *you* to be aware as well. I desired for you to sense it.

"Why?" I inquired.

"Because you'll now know what it's like to nearly lose him."

She grinned icily.

James moved ahead. "Amelia, you're playing games."

"I'm defending my son," she yelled. "There's no need to bring him into the mess you two created years ago."

"The mess *is* him," James snarled. "What matters now is him."

Amelia squinted her eyes. "You desire him? Alright. After that, prepare for court.

She passed a yellow envelope to him.

“Legal custody battle,” she said. "I'm submitting an application. And I'll make sure that both of you regret attempting to remove him.

She turned on her heels and walked off.

I reclined on the couch and gazed at the envelope that James was holding.

"War is here," I muttered.

He nodded grudgingly. "We'll fight it."

However, something wasn't quite right.

I looked across at James. "You stated... that evening. You had something to conceal. What were you trying to say?

He turned his head away.

"Tell me," I demanded.

He got up and paced the floor. "This is not the appropriate moment."

"It's *way past* the appropriate moment!"

He hesitated. "Lily, Amelia was more than just a friend the night you vanished. She—something she told me. I felt like you had deceived me because of something.

I blinked. "What?"

"The baby wasn't mine," she claimed. that you were abandoning me for another person. I signed the documents for that reason. I took her word for it.

My heart broke. "And now?"

He gave me a guilty expression. "I no longer know what is genuine."

Both of us sat silently.

Until someone knocked on the door again.

James pulled it open.

There was a man in a suit.

"James Bennett?"

"Yes?"

"I am here on Amelia Holt's behalf. It has been served to you.

One more envelope.

One more hit.

It wasn't the worst part, though.

Because the youngster was standing behind the man.

By themselves.

His eyes were filled with tears.

And as the door closed once again, he spoke one line in a whisper—

**“Help me, Mommy.”**

—