The Truth That Broke Him.

The Truth That Broke Him POV: Ethan Kingsley I spent the entire night sitting at my desk in my office without sleeping, staring at the clock on the wall until the morning sun started coming through the window, because my private investigator said the DNA results would be delivered directly to my office before nine in the morning. My heart was pounding like crazy against my ribs every time I heard footsteps in the hallway outside, and when my door finally opened, my investigator stepped into the room holding a white envelope in his right hand. "Here is the official document from the lab, Mr. Kingsley, the head doctor verified the sample himself," the investigator said as he walked up to my table and laid the paper right in front of me. "Are you completely sure there were no mix-ups with the samples at the testing center?" I asked, looking up at him while my hands shook so badly that I could barely open the paper. "We picked up the glass right after the girl drank her orange juice at the restaurant, the doctor compared her saliva directly with the blood sample you provided yesterday, so there is zero chance of any mix-up," he replied, standing quietly near the door while I pulled the paper out of the envelope. I looked down at the last line of the document where the bold letters printed in black ink said there was a 99.99% probability of paternity, and my hands started shaking so violently that the paper slipped right out of my fingers and fell to the floor near my shoes. Everything from five years ago suddenly fell into place in my head, including the timing of her pregnancy, the small dimple on Lily's cheek, the hospital transfer after the car accident, and all the lies Amelia's lawyer told me when he brought those divorce papers to my office. "Mr. Kingsley, are you alright?" my investigator asked, stepping forward because my face had gone completely pale. "I need my car keys right now, I want you to clear my entire schedule for today," I said, grabbing my suit jacket off the chair and running straight out of my office before he could even answer me. I drove like a madman through the city traffic, cutting through red lights and driving fast until I pulled up outside the building of Lancaster Global, and I didn't even bother to hand my keys to the valet before marching through the main entrance doors. The security guards at the front desk tried to stop me when I ignored the visitor badge requirement, but I pushed past them and ran straight toward the executive elevators at the back of the lobby. I hit the button for the top floor repeatedly, and as soon as the doors opened on Amelia's floor, I saw her walking out of her office toward the executive elevator with a stack of files in her arms. "Amelia, wait, you need to talk to me right now," I shouted, running down the hall and placing my body right in between the elevator doors so she couldn't press the button to close them. "Ethan, what are you doing here, and how did you get past my security team on the ground floor?" Amelia asked, stopping in her tracks while looking at me with a completely blank expression on her face. "I received the DNA test report from the lab this morning, Amelia," I whispered, and my eyes filled with hot tears as I took a small step closer to her inside the frame of the door. "What test are you talking about, and why are you barging into my company during business hours like a crazy person?" she asked, her voice calm and cold as if my presence didn't affect her at all. "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked softly, wiping a tear from my cheek with the back of my hand while looking straight into her brown eyes. "Tell you what, Mr. Kingsley?" she asked back, crossing her arms over her chest while waiting for me to speak. "Tell me that I had a daughter, and that you were still carrying my child when you packed your bags and walked out of our home five years ago," I cried out, and my voice cracked in the hallway while the elevator bell chimed softly behind us. Amelia let out a short, bitter laugh, shaking her head as she looked down at my face with complete contempt, and there wasn't a single trace of sadness or love in her eyes. "You made your choice five years ago, Ethan, when you left our anniversary dinner to run to Sophia, when you brought her into our home, when you slapped me in front of our servants, and when you signed those divorce papers without even asking me if I was okay," she said, stepping into the elevator and pushing the button for the underground parking garage. "I didn't know you were pregnant back then, Amelia, because if I knew about the baby, I would have never let you leave that house, and I would have kicked Sophia out that very night," I pleaded, reaching out my hand to grab her sleeve because I desperately wanted her to understand how sorry I was. "Don't touch me, because your regret means nothing to me now, and the Ethan Kingsley who was my husband died to me the moment I woke up in that hospital room alone," she said firmly, stepping back into the corner of the elevator cab so my hand couldn't reach her. "She is my daughter, Amelia, and you have no right to keep her away from me or let her call another man her father," I yelled as the elevator doors began to slide shut between us. Just before the doors could close completely, small footsteps sounded on the floor outside, and five-year-old Lily came running around the corner with Lucas right behind her. "Mommy, look at the big teddy bear Uncle Lucas bought for me at the toy store near the entrance," Lily called out happily, running straight into the elevator and hugging Amelia tightly around her knees. The doors paused for a brief second because Lily's small arm blocked the sensor, and as she wrapped her little arms around her mother, she looked up at me with innocent curiosity in her eyes, pointing her small finger at my wet cheeks. "Mommy... why is that uncle crying?" Lily asked in her small, gentle voice, looking back and forth between my face and her mother's face while the elevator doors finally clicked shut completely, blocking them from my view.