Chapter 351

Author's pov At the Locke estate, the same evening. Zane sat alone in his private study, the lights low and the room quiet. He opened the drawer and took out the DNA results that had arrived earlier. He hadn't looked at them right away. He waited until the house was silent and he was ready to face whatever the truth was. With trembling fingers, he tore open the envelope and unfolded the report. Flipping to the final page, his eyes scanned for the summary. His breath caught. No... genetic relationship. No... no... The words hit him like a punch to the chest. He slumped back in his chair, the disappointment washing over him like cold rain. How foolish he'd been. Cecilia wasn't his daughter. Just another desperate illusion. Why would fate be kind now, after everything it had taken from him? He took off his glasses, letting his hand drop limply to his thigh. The silence around him deepened, filled only by the dull ache of regret and the weight of crushing loneliness. -- In the glass conser