Chapter 1

My wife cheated on me, and my son wasn’t mine. She told me herself on our wedding day.

Then, completely by chance, I discovered the boy shared my extremely rare Rh-negative blood type.

Behind her back, I took him for a paternity test. The result showed a 99.99% DNA match.

This proved the boy was indeed blood-related to me, yet he couldn't be my biological son. So who the hell was his real father? Could it be...?

My face drained of all color.

"Is this Leo's father, Jason Miller?"

"This is the children’s hospital. Your son took a bad fall at school and cut his head open. There’s severe bleeding, and he needs an emergency blood transfusion."

"You need to get down here immediately..."

At ten in the morning, my phone rang with this call, and my expression instantly darkened.

It wasn't worry or panic.

It was pure disgust.

"If it's about the kid, call his mother."

"Besides, I'm Rh-negative. What good is calling me? Doesn't your hospital have a blood bank?"

Annoyed, I snapped back and prepared to hang up.

Cole, who was driving the company car, glanced back at me. I could see the shock and bewilderment written across his face.

What kind of father reacts with cold irritation when hearing his own son is bleeding out?

The reason was simple.

Leo wasn't my biological child.

When my wife, Lily, first met me, she was already three months pregnant. She walked down the aisle with another man's baby growing in her belly.

I was nothing more than a pathetic chump stepping in to raise another man's kid.

"What kind of father are you? This is unbelievable!"

The doctor on the other end was clearly outraged, his voice sharpening. "If we had this blood type in stock, do you think we'd be wasting time calling you?"

"We just ran the lab tests. Leo is Rh-negative too! Get over here right now!"

With a loud click, the doctor slammed the phone down.

I froze on the spot.

Leo was Rh-negative too?

How could there be such an insane coincidence?

"Jason, kids get rowdy. It’s normal for them to take a tumble," Cole said, watching my expression carefully.

He tried to calm me down. "I get being strict, but the little guy is hurt. Let's make sure he's okay first."

"I'm not his damn father!"

My mind was spinning, and the words burst out before I could stop myself.

Catching myself, I looked at Cole. "Sorry, Cole. I didn't mean to snap at you... Let's just head to the hospital."

At the hospital, after the transfusion was complete, Leo fell asleep.

For the first time, I actually looked at his face closely. The more I stared, the more he looked like a mirror image of me.

Cole suddenly chimed in, "Man, Jason... the kid looks just like you. Seriously, a chip off the old block."

A wave of panic surged through my chest. I turned to the doctor. "Doctor, can you run a paternity test here?"

The doctor gave me a judging look. "Isn't his blood type enough proof?"

"Never mind that. Can you run the test or not?"

"We can't do it in-house," the doctor replied. "But we can send the samples to the state lab. The results take three days."

I rolled up my sleeves immediately. "Hair or blood? Take the samples now."

I watched the entire process like a hawk, right down to the sealing of the envelopes.

Just as everything was finished, Lily rushed in.

Her eyes were bloodshot, and tears stained her cheeks. She had clearly been crying the entire way.

The preschool teachers and director hurried over to apologize and comfort her.

I only gave her a cold look, called Cole, and walked out.

By the time we left the hospital, it was lunch hour.

Suffocating with frustration, I wanted a drink. Skipping the company cafeteria, I took Cole out to a local diner.

When the drinks arrived, I poured myself a shot of straight bourbon and knocked it back in one gulp.

Anyone could tell I was drinking away my misery.

"Take it easy, Jason. That stuff burns," Cole warned gently.

Then he asked cautiously, "Is the kid... really not yours? But that blood type... that's crazy rare, isn't it?"