A SON IN LAW TURNS BILLIONAIRE AFTER DIVORCE

Chapter 5

The private DNA testing clinic on Millfield Road offered expedited, same-day processing for an exorbitant premium f*e. Leonard didn't even blink as he swiped his card and paid it without hesitation.

He sat in his car in the parking lot, carefully swabbing the inside of his own cheek, sealed the sample into the tube, and handed it directly to the technician.

After that, there was nothing left to do but wait.

He spent the entire rest of the afternoon sitting in the clinic’s quiet waiting area, holding a small paper cup of cold water, left alone with his thoughts. Every minute felt like an eternity, but his heart remained eerily still.

At exactly seven o'clock in the evening, the phone vibrated heavy in his pocket.

BZZZ.

A new email had arrived. Attachment: Expedited_Genetics_Report_Ref8821.p*f.

Leonard’s fingers didn't tremble as he tapped the file open. The report was only a few pages long, filled with complex medical charts and allele matching tables. He skipped past the technical jargon, scrolling straight down to the official summary at the bottom.

Based on the genetic markers examined and the comparative DNA analysis performed, the probability that Leonard Buck is the biological father of Mark Buck is… 0.00%.

He read the sentence once.

Then he read it again.

There was no violent explosion of grief. No rage boiling up in his chest. No sudden, primal urge to scream or smash his fists into the car dashboard. Instead, a sharp, terrifying clarity descended over his entire mind.

The lingering shadow of doubt was gone. The faint, foolish hope that maybe—just maybe—his memories of the future had been a nightmare was officially dead.

Leonard closed his eyes and exhaled a long, slow breath. In that quiet moment, the last remaining piece of the soft, forgiving man he used to be quietly died.

BRRRRING! BRRRRING!

The sudden ringing of his phone shattered the silence of the vehicle. The caller ID on the screen glowed brightly: Susan.

Leonard opened his eyes, swiped the screen, and placed the phone to his ear.

“Michael said you fucking attacked him!” Susan snapped instantly into the receiver. No greeting. No asking where he was. Just pure, shrill hostility. “I don't know what the hell is wrong with you today, Leonard, but this behavior is completely out of control! You put your hands on my father in his own—”

"I have the DNA results," Leonard cut in.

The silence on the line was instantaneous.

"What...?" Susan’s voice stumbled, caught completely off guard. "What did you just say?"

“Mark isn’t mine,” Leonard said. His tone wasn't loud. It wasn't angry. It was completely stripped of human emotion, as flat and cold as a sheet of ice. “I know Mark is Jonathan’s son.”

Total, suffocating silence gripped the other end of the line. For five agonizing seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then, a trembling, wavering whisper came through the speaker: "Leonard... what... how could you even say something like that...? That's crazy, I would never—"

"It doesn’t matter anymore,” Leonard interrupted smoothly, stopping her pathetic lie before it could leave her lips. "I don't care about your excuses. But you are going to meet me at the county clerk's office tomorrow morning at exactly eight o'clock. And you are going to sign and cooperate with the divorce proceedings. Completely, quietly, and without asking for a single cent."

"Leonard, please... listen to me!" Panic surged into her voice, cracked and desperate. "You're not thinking clearly! You're under so much stress right now! We can talk about this at home! Just come home and—"

"If you don't show up tomorrow at eight," Leonard said, his voice dropping an octave into something lethal, "I’ll take this official DNA report, along with every piece of evidence I have about you and Jonathan, and I will send it to everyone in our lives."

He paused, letting the weight of his words settle in the air.

"I’ll send it to your mother’s book club. Your father’s golf partners. Joseph’s potential investors. Your friends, your relatives, your high school alumni group, and every single one of your business contacts.”

A sharp gasp echoed from Susan's breath.

“I’ll make sure no one ever looks at you or your family again without remembering exactly what kind of cheap, lying snake you really are,” Leonard added calmly. "You will be the joke of this entire city."

For several long seconds, he heard nothing over the phone except the heavy, ragged sound of her panic-stricken breathing.

Then, the hesitation evaporated. The panic vanished from her voice, replaced in an instant by something hard, practical, and utterly cold. The mask was officially off.

“Fine,” Susan hissed.

CLICK.

The line went dead. Leonard lowered the phone from his ear, threw it onto the passenger seat, and started the engine.