Chapter 1 - The Fall
“No child like you belongs in this house.”
Margaret Carter’s voice was cold enough to stop the room.
Fifteen-month-old Noah stood near the top of the grand staircase, crying, one tiny hand wrapped around the polished railing.
He didn’t understand the words.
He only understood that his grandmother was angry again.
Margaret stared down at him.
“You filthy little bastard.”
Then she kicked him.
Noah tumbled down the carpeted stairs.
His frightened cry echoed through the mansion.
At that exact moment, the front door flew open.
Daniel Carter stepped inside.
He froze.
“Noah!”
He ran.
By the time Margaret reached the bottom of the staircase, Daniel was already on his knees, gathering his son into his arms.
Noah was terrified, shaking against his chest.
Daniel slowly looked up.
“What did you do?”
Margaret adjusted her pearl necklace as though nothing had happened.
“I removed something that never belonged here.”
Daniel’s face changed.
Margaret had insulted Noah before.
She had refused to hold him.
She had questioned his blood.
But this?
Daniel carefully shifted Noah against his shoulder.
Margaret gave a contemptuous laugh.
“That bastard belongs in the gutter.”
Daniel stood.
His restraint broke.
One hard punch sent Margaret backward onto the rug.
The entire foyer went silent.
Daniel didn’t approach her again.
Instead, keeping Noah safely against him, he reached into his pocket.
He pulled out a folded document.
Margaret’s expression flickered.
Daniel noticed.
That was when his anger became something colder.
He dropped the paper beside her.
“Do you still want to call Noah a brat?”
Margaret unfolded it.
Her face drained of color.
It was a certified DNA report.
Probability of paternity:
99.99%.
Daniel Carter was Noah’s biological father.
But Margaret wasn’t staring at the result.
She was staring at the small certification number printed underneath it.
Because Daniel had no idea yet that she had seen that number before.
And there was a reason she suddenly looked terrified.