For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Lila looked at Adrian.
He looked as shocked as she felt.
"A child?" he finally whispered.
His former fiancée nodded.
"Yes."
Adrian took a step backward.
"You said the child wasn't mine."
"I said the test we did years ago showed you weren't the father."
"Then what are you talking about?"
She swallowed.
"I lied."
The room went silent again.
Lila's heart sank.
Adrian's voice became dangerously calm.
"What exactly did you lie about?"
She looked at him.
"The test."
His mother frowned.
"What does that mean?"
The woman took a trembling breath.
"The laboratory result was never yours."
Adrian stared at her.
"I don't understand."
"I switched the results."
His face hardened.
"You did what?"
"I was afraid."
"Afraid of what?"
"That you would leave me."
Adrian's hands curled into fists.
"You destroyed years of my life because you were afraid I'd leave?"
"I loved you!"
"You manipulated me!"
His voice echoed through the room.
Lila flinched.
Adrian immediately lowered his voice.
"I spent years believing I had no connection to that child."
"I know."
"And you watched me move on?"
"I watched you suffer."
"No," he said bitterly. "You watched me suffer because of a lie you created."
The woman began crying.
"I didn't know what else to do."
Lila stood frozen.
She had come expecting to hear a painful secret.
She had never imagined this.
Adrian turned toward her.
"Lila…"
She looked at him.
"Is there really a child?"
"Yes."
"Where?"
"She lives with her mother."
"Does she know who you are?"
He shook his head.
"No."
Lila's heart broke for him.
Not because she suddenly doubted his love.
But because she could see how much had been stolen from him.
Years.
Possibilities.
A relationship with a child who might actually be his.
Adrian walked toward the woman.
"I want another DNA test."
She nodded.
"I'll do it."
"And this time," he said, "I want everything done legally. No private laboratory. No secrets. No lies."
She wiped her tears.
"Okay."
His mother sat down slowly.
"This changes everything."
Lila finally spoke.
"No."
Everyone looked at her.
She took a breath.
"It doesn't change everything."
Adrian looked at her.
"It changes something very important," she continued. "But it doesn't change what happened between us."
He stared at her.
She walked closer.
"I love you."
His eyes softened.
"But if that child is yours, you have a responsibility."
"I know."
"You may have to be part of her life."
"I know."
"You may have to deal with her mother for the rest of your life."
He nodded.
"I know."
Lila swallowed.
"And I don't know what that will mean for us."
Adrian reached for her hand.
"You don't have to decide today."
She looked down at their hands.
For once, he wasn't asking her to stay.
He was giving her room to choose.
Then his former fiancée spoke again.
"There is one more thing."
Lila looked up.
Adrian's expression tightened.
"What now?"
The woman hesitated.
"The DNA test isn't the only reason I came back."
Adrian stared at her.
"Then why?"
She looked at Lila.
"Because someone else knows about the child."
"Who?"
The woman lowered her voice.
"The child's real father."
Adrian's face went pale.
"And he wants her back."