Chapter 3
Half an hour later, the Brooks family had assembled in the living room, the air thick with unspoken tension.
Ashley and her husband, Ryan Brooks, occupied the central sofa, their expressions gloomy and foreboding.
Michael stood to one side, confusion etched on his face, completely in the dark.
Evelyn hovered near the doorway, clutching Leo close, her anxious eyes darting incessantly toward Kevin.
As for Kevin himself, he resembled a chastened schoolboy, head bowed, shifting uncomfortably beside me.
The moment the door closed, Ashley launched her inquisition.
"Julia, what in God's name is this all about?" Her palm slapped the coffee table for emphasis, voice sharp and accusing. "We had a perfectly good life. Why this sudden talk of divorce? What has this family ever done to deserve such ingratitude?"
I offered no immediate reply. Instead, I reached into my bag and retrieved two documents, laying them side by side on the polished surface before pushing them toward the couple.
One detailed the paternity results between Leo and me.
The other, between Leo and Kevin.
"Look at these first," I said, my tone devoid of warmth.
Ashley picked up the papers with suspicion, Ryan leaning in to read over her shoulder.
The color drained from their faces the instant their eyes scanned to the conclusive lines.
Ashley's hand trembled as she pointed a shaking finger at the damning phrase: [Probability of Paternity: 99.9999%]
"This... what is this?" Her voice quivered. "It has to be a mistake! This is impossible!"
"It's no mistake." My voice remained flat, factual. "These reports are from the most authoritative testing center in the country, complete with official seals. They don't make errors."
My gaze shifted then, landing squarely on Evelyn, who had gone deathly pale.
"Or, if you doubt the papers, you can always ask the people involved."
Every pair of eyes in the room swiveled to focus on Evelyn and Kevin.
Evelyn swayed on her feet as if struck, barely managing to stay upright.
Sensing the hostile shift in atmosphere, Leo began to whimper softly in her arms.
Ryan barked, slamming his hand down on the table, "What the hell is going on here? Kevin! Start talking! Now!"
Sobs racked Kevin's frame as he broke down. "Dad... Mom... I'm so sorry. I've failed you... failed Michael..."
He stumbled through the same pathetic story he'd fed me earlier—the "drunken mistake", the "one-time accident".
A profound, suffocating silence descended upon the room, broken only by the ragged sound of Kevin's weeping and Leo's escalating cries.
Michael stood frozen, his initial bewilderment transforming before our eyes.
His face flushed crimson, then turned ashen, finally settling into a mask of sickly pallor.
He stared at his brother, then at the woman who was once his wife, and finally at the little boy he had adored for over a year.
His eyes held a torrent of emotions—disbelief, betrayal, and a pain so deep it seemed physical.
Suddenly, a resounding slap echoed through the room.
Michael moved like lightning, his fist connecting with Kevin's jaw with a sickening thud.
"You bastard! Kevin! Are you even human? She was my wife! I am your brother!" he snarled, voice choked with fury.
He descended on Kevin then, a whirlwind of punches and kicks fueled by pure rage.
Kevin offered no resistance, simply crumpling to the floor and taking the beating.
Ashley shrieked, trying to pull her younger son away. Ryan clutched his chest, breathing heavily, face purpling with anger.
Evelyn sank into a corner, hugging her crying child, her own body wracked with silent sobs.
Through it all, I watched. A detached spectator to the grotesque theater unfolding in what was once my home.
Eventually, the storm of violence spent itself.
Michael collapsed to the floor, his anger giving way to heart-wrenching, guttural sobs—the sound of a broken man.
Ashley cradled Kevin's bruised and bloodied face, wailing about family shame and cursed luck.
"Why does misfortune keep hitting our family? Did the Brooks do something so wrong to deserve this?" she sobbed.
After she finally stopped crying, she suddenly looked up, her eyes red and swollen, fixing her intense glare right on me.
She screamed, jabbing a finger at me, "This is all your fault! If you hadn't been unable to have children, Kevin would never have done something like this!
"You still have the nerve to demand a divorce? We're already being kind by not throwing you out!"
The sheer audacity of her logic almost made me laugh aloud out of anger.
For three years of marriage, it was Kevin who insisted we focused on his career, Kevin who took precautions every time.
The decision to postpone a family was his alone. Now, suddenly, their son's betrayal was my failure?
I said, my voice cold as ice, "Mom, you need to get your facts straight.
"It's not that I can't have kids. Kevin never wanted them, period. Even if I really couldn't, that's no excuse for him to cheat. I'm divorcing him—not asking for your opinion, just letting you know.
"This marriage is done. I'm leaving, period."
The way I stood my ground clearly wasn't what Ashley expected.
She blinked, stunned into momentary silence.
Then her fury reignited, hotter and more desperate than before.
"How dare you defy me, Julia! You want a divorce? Fine! You'll walk out with nothing! Not a single cent!
"This house? We paid for it. The cars? Our money. Everything you've eaten, every stitch you've worn—all from this family!
"If you leave, you leave it all behind. And the child stays! Leo is our grandson, our blood. He has nothing to do with an outsider like you!"