The Fake Heart Made of Gold (The love that lied)

Chapter 7

The question hung between them like a blade. Steve didn't answer. He just held Jason’s gaze for three long seconds, swallowed hard, and picked up his briefcase.

"Give me the sample, Dr. Hart. Let the lab do its job."

He didn't wait for Jason to reply. Steve turned on his heel and walked out of the courthouse, his stride faster than when he had walked in.

An hour later, Steve was standing inside Lauren Chase’s  mansion. He took a cotton swab from his pocket, gently brushed the inside of fifteen-year-old Nina’s cheek while she complained about her mother being dramatic, and sealed it in a sterile vial.

He didn't take it to one lab. He sent samples to three separate high-speed testing facilities across the state, demanding rush orders from every single one of them.

The next afternoon, the notification hit Steve’s phone.

He opened the P*F in his car, his breath catching in his throat. His eyes skimmed past the medical jargon straight to the bottom line.

PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 0.00% JASON HART IS EXCLUDED AS THE BIOLOGICAL FATHER OF NINA HART.

Steve sat frozen in the driver's seat.

It was identical to the paper Jason had pulled from his bag.

Jason hadn't lied. He hadn't lost his mind.

‘Could Lauren really have cheated on him?’ Steve thought, his mind racing. ‘The biggest female star in the country... a secret affair sixteen years ago?’

He didn't waste a second. He drove straight to Lauren’s house, bypassed the housekeeper, and walked right into her private study, slamming the door behind him.

Lauren was sitting at her desk, going over a movie script. She looked up, frowning at his sudden entrance. "Steve? What's going on?"

Steve didn't bother with small talk. He threw the printed report directly onto her desk.

Lauren picked it up. Her eyes scanned the page, and the color instantly drained from her face. Her lips parted, but no sound came out. She looked at Steve in sheer disbelief.

"This... this is wrong," she stammered, her voice shaking. "It has to be wrong!"

"Lauren, listen to me," Steve said, his voice grave. "This is an expedited test. Its accuracy isn't legally as airtight as a standard seven-day panel, and courtrooms usually prefer the seven-day results."

He paused, taking a slow step toward the desk.

"But you need to prepare yourself mentally. An expedited test and a long-term test don't just produce completely opposite results out of thin air. The DNA doesn't match."

Lauren looked dazed, staggering back a step until her legs hit her leather chair. She sank into it, staring at the paper.

"How is that possible?" she whispered, her hands trembling. "Nina is my daughter. She's Jason's daughter. We were together! How could she suddenly... not be his?"

"There's another possibility," Steve said carefully.

Lauren snapped her head up. "What?"

"She could have been switched at birth," Steve said flatly. "Hospital mix-up. It happens. If Nina isn't Jason's, we need to make sure she's actually yours. Give me a cheek swab. We compare your DNA against Nina's."

"Yes! Yes, do it!" Lauren said desperately, grabbing a swab from the kit Steve pulled out. "Get it done right now. Run it immediately!"

Her hands were shaking so hard Steve had to help her hold the swab.

For the first time since this whole nightmare started, real panic flared in Lauren's eyes. The memory of Jason shoving those three lab reports across the restaurant table flashed in her mind. He hadn't been making it up. He hadn't gone crazy.

As Steve packed the new sample into his bag and reached for the door handle, Lauren’s voice stopped him.

"Steve..."

Steve paused, his hand on the brass knob. He turned around.

Lauren was standing by the desk, looking smaller than he had ever seen her. The cold, untouchable movie star was gone.

"I... I didn't betray Jason," she said, her voice dropping to an uneasy whisper. She swallowed hard, her eyes wide. "I swear to you, Steve. I never slept with another man."

Steve didn't say anything.

"But... if the test comes back with the worst possible result," she continued, her chest heaving as tears welled in her eyes, "what am I supposed to do?"

Her voice turned soft, pleading, almost like a frightened child.

"I don't want a divorce, Steve. I really don't want to lose Jason."

Steve looked at her for a long moment. He sighed, adjusting his jacket.

"Lauren, even if the worst-case scenario happens—even if Nina isn't his—Jason is a reasonable man. Once he sees the whole picture, he'll understand your situation."

Lauren’s brows remained tightly furrowed, her jaw set in an anxious clench.

"Besides," Steve added, his tone shifting into a smooth, calculated calm, "let's be realistic. Jason can't actually live without you."

Lauren blinked. "What do you mean?"

"On my way over here, I had my team look into his recent situation," Steve said with a dismissive shrug. "His career at Eastport General has been dead in the water for years. He's forty years old, Lauren. He's a general staff doctor making peanuts compared to you."

Steve walked back toward her, resting a reassuring hand on the edge of her desk.

"If he leaves you, what does he actually have? No money, no power, no big future. Look at the last four days. Ever since he walked out of this house, he's had nowhere to go except cheap hotel rooms."

He chuckled softly. "Right now, he's just acting out because his male pride is hurt. Once he cools off, realizes how cold it is out there in the real world without your money and status, he'll come crawling back to reconcile."

Lauren listened to every word. The tension in her shoulders began to melt away. The fear in her eyes was replaced by her usual quiet arrogance.

"You're right," she said, letting out a long breath. "That actually makes sense. He's just throwing a foolish tantrum."

"Leave the testing to me," Steve said with a confident nod. "I'll have the maternity results by tomorrow."