His Son, My Secret

Chapter 7 :He’s mine

Leo’s cough tore through the silence.

Damian stared at him . Really looked at him. His jaw. His hair . His gray eyes.

Mine.

The word exploded in Damian’s head. His hands curled into fists.

“Mom,”Leo wheezed, pulling on my shirt. “Is the mean man my dad ?”

Mean man. My son was scared of his own father.

“ Leo, baby, go wait with nurse Tina.” I pushed him gently towards the door. “ Mom needs to talk .”

Once the door clicked shut, Damian moved,

He crossed the office in two steps. Towered over me . “ Five years,Aria. Five years you kept my son from me.”

“ He’s dying, Damian.” Tears burned my eyes. “ I didn’t coy for money. I came for his life.”

Damian grabbed the cotton swab again. “ Open your mouth.”

“ Your DNA too.” His voice was deadly calm. “ l want proof you’re his mother.After what you did , I trust nothing.”

He didn’t believe me . He thought I stole someone else’s kid for cash.

I laughed. It sounded broken. “ You think I I’d fake a sick child? Look at him! He has your eyes!”

“ I need the test.” Damian shoved the swab at me. “ Do it. Or I call CPS and tell them you’re using a sick child to extort me .”

CPS. They’d take Leo . The hospital would stop treatment.

My hands shoot as l swabbed my cheek. The Damian did his own.

He sealed both samples in an envelope. “ Results in 24 hours.”

24 hours. Leo had 48 hours to live.

“ What about the money ?” I whispered . “ He needs the transplant tomorrow-“

“ The test comes first,” Damaged picked up his phone. “ If he’s mine, I pay . If is not, you go to jail for fraud.”

He dialed. “Transfer $100,000 to my private account. Now.”

My heart stopped. He was going to help.

He hung up . Looked at me . Cold. Empty.

“ That’s for the lawyers,” he said. “ To take full custody when the test proves he’s mine.”

He wasn’t saving Leo . He was buying him.

You can’t—“

“ I can .”Damian stepped closer. His breath hit my face. “ You had my son for five years. I’ll have him for the rest of his life.”

He leaned down. His lips brushed my ear.

“And you , Aria Cross ?His voice dropped to a whisper. “ you wily be in his life too. As my wife. Or not at all.”