Richard turned to his father, his eyes filled with a strange mix of pain and clarity.
“Should I tell her, or do you want to?” he asked quietly.
His father’s lips trembled. After a long silence, he finally stood up. “Margaret… I’m sorry. I never told you this, but Richard isn’t biologically your son. We adopted him when you were unconscious after the miscarriage. You were too fragile, and I was afraid you’d never recover if you knew the truth.”
Margaret gasped, her world spinning. “What… what are you saying?”
Richard stepped forward gently. “Mom, I love you. You raised me. But the truth is, that DNA test didn’t prove I cheated—it revealed a secret Dad’s been hiding for over thirty years. Oliver is my biological son. But since I was adopted, you share no DNA with him.”
The room fell into stunned silence. Margaret sat down, trembling, as tears welled in her eyes.
Lesson:
Truth always finds its way to the surface—sometimes through the very lies meant to protect us. Be careful what you try to expose in others; the truth you uncover might be your own.