The Ordinary Doctor’s Revenge

CHAPTER 6

Ethan walked slowly toward the small neighborhood park near his hotel, the afternoon sun filtering through the leaves of the trees lining the path.

He sat down on a worn bench and watched children run across the grass, their bright laughter echoing through the warm air. A dull, lingering ache settled in his chest as memories came rushing back—pushing Sophia on the swings when she was five, catching her as she slid down the slide, and wiping ice cream from her chin.

He had watched her grow up day by day, holding her hand for fifteen years and pouring all his love and devotion into raising her.

And in the end... she wasn't even his.

A wave of sorrow washed over Ethan, quickly turning into a cold, burning anger.

He waited on the bench for a little over ten minutes before a sleek black sedan pulled up to the curb. The door opened, and a man stepped out.

He looked to be in his late thirties, tall and lean, wearing a tailored dark jacket and sharply pressed trousers. His silver-streaked hair was neatly styled, and a pair of thin-framed glasses rested on his sharp, well-groomed face.

Everything about him—from the expensive Swiss watch on his wrist to the calm, effortless way he carried himself—suggested someone who had spent his life dealing with celebrities, corporate executives, and national media.

"Chloe's extremely busy with filming and really couldn't get away, so she asked me to come on her behalf," the man said, stopping in front of the bench. "Ethan, why don't you talk to me first?"

Ethan knew him intimately.

It was Gavin Grant—Chloe’s long-time executive manager, personal strategist, and the person she trusted most in her professional life.

Gavin motioned toward his car, suggesting they go somewhere more private. Ethan didn't make a scene. He just stood up and followed him into the quiet, leather-scented interior of the vehicle.

As soon as the doors closed, Ethan cut straight to the point.

"What exactly is Chloe trying to do?" Ethan asked, his voice low and hard. "Does she honestly think she can keep hiding behind you forever? Call her right now and tell her to come here so we can finish this divorce."

"Ethan, calm down," Gavin said smoothly, adjusting his glasses. "You know what kind of position Chloe is in right now. Something like this... a scandal of this magnitude could have a devastating, irreversible impact on her career as a public figure."

His expression turned solemn. "If we're going to take this any further, there has to be solid, unquestionable evidence."

Without a word, Ethan reached into his coat pocket, pulled out the folded paternity report, and handed it over.

Gavin unfolded the paper and read through it carefully, his eyes scanning the laboratory stamp at the bottom.

"Would you mind if we had another test conducted on our side?" Gavin asked, looking up.

Ethan shook his head. "I have nothing to hide."

He cooperated without hesitation, letting Gavin take a fresh swab sample from him.

Gavin sealed it away carefully in a sterile collection vial before turning back to Ethan.

"Ethan, I've watched the two of you for years," Gavin said, his tone shifting into something almost conversational, persuasive. "I can tell you honestly that Chloe really does love you."

He paused, letting those words sink in.

"You know what the entertainment industry is like. People's private lives get messy fast. But as far as I've ever seen, Chloe has always kept her distance from that world. She has always protected her home."

"You don't need to defend her, Gavin," Ethan cut in, his voice hardening into steel. "She did what she did. She looked me in the eye and lied to me for sixteen years."

He leaned back against the headrest, staring out the tinted window.

"No man could just let something like that go. If she thinks I'm filing for divorce because I'm after her money or assets, tell her she can keep it all. I don't want a dime from her. I just want to sever every tie and get away as fast as I can.”

Gavin let out a heavy sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly. "If this report is really true... then yes, Ethan. You've been seriously, terribly wronged. I can't deny that."

Then, as if a sudden thought had just struck him, Gavin turned his head, his sharp eyes fixing on Ethan with a quiet, probing curiosity.

"But Sophia is already fifteen," Gavin murmured. "You never suspected a thing before. I was at your house just last month for dinner, and you and Chloe were as close as ever. So why now? What made you suddenly decide to go out and get a paternity test?"

A surge of heavy frustration tightened Ethan’s chest.

He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and took a long, slow drag. Gray smoke filled the space between them before drifting toward the cracked window.

As he stared at the glowing ember, his thoughts drifted back to the days leading up to the test.

It had started in the hospital’s inpatient unit.

A child had been admitted after an injury and needed an urgent blood transfusion. Because the child had an extremely rare blood type, the medical team asked the father to donate on the spot. But when they ran the cross-match, the blood types were incompatible.

The father instantly realized something was wrong. A DNA test was ordered, and sure enough, the truth came out: the mother had cheated on him years ago and had another man's child.

In more than fifteen years of practicing medicine, Ethan had encountered a handful of non-paternity cases. Normally, he treated them as sad medical realities and moved on.

But that evening, when Ethan returned home tired after his shift, Sophia confronted him in the living room, demanding money to buy a car.

Not a practical starter car, but a multi-hundred-thousand-dollar luxury supercar. Her logic was simple and stubborn: she had just gotten her learner’s permit, all her wealthy friends had high-end cars, and she believed she deserved one too.

Ethan had flatly refused, telling her it was outrageously extravagant for a teenager. Sophia had thrown a massive tantrum, screaming at him in the foyer. In the heat of her rage, she had spat the words right in his face:

"Why are you acting like you own me? You're not even my real dad anyway!"

She had just been hurling insults to hurt him, brushing it off moments later as a drama line she picked up online.

But those words had cut Ethan deeply. Combined with the heartbreak he had witnessed at the hospital that afternoon, they planted a terrifying seed of doubt in his mind.

He couldn't sleep that night. Two days later, he took a strand of hair from her hairbrush to the lab for testing.

The result shattered his entire world.

Ethan slowly exhaled another cloud of smoke into the quiet car.

He didn't share a word of that painful memory with Gavin.

Instead, Ethan tapped the ash off his cigarette and spoke coldly. "Gavin, go back and tell Chloe this for me: there's no hiding the truth forever. If you don't want people to find out what you've done, don't do it in the first place."

Gavin frowned slightly. "Ethan, you still haven't answered me. What made you start suspecting her in the first place?"

"That's something you should be asking Chloe," Ethan replied flatly.

He glanced at Gavin's composed, razor-sharp profile, and a sudden, dark thought flashed through his mind.

"Actually," Ethan said, his voice dropping into a quiet, deliberate test, "since you've managed her career and her private life for so long... let me ask you this. Who do you think Sophia's biological father could be? How many possible suspects are there?"

Gavin immediately raised both hands, shaking his head in firm refusal.

"Come on, Ethan. Don't try to trap me like that," Gavin said smoothly. "All I can tell you is that Chloe has always treated you well. She loves you. Very, very much."

Ethan let out a bitter, humorless scoff. "Right. Do you really take me for an idiot?"

Without waiting for another word, Ethan opened the car door and stepped out into the afternoon breeze, walking away without looking back.

Later that evening, Gavin drove straight to Chloe's private villa. Using his unfettered access, he discreetly obtained a fresh DNA sample from Sophia's hairbrush.

He split the samples carefully, sending them under fake aliases to three separate, top-tier independent genetic testing facilities and paying extra for expedited overnight processing.

The very next afternoon, three identical digital reports arrived in Chloe's encrypted inbox.

When Chloe opened the final report and saw the bold red text across the bottom—PROBABILITY OF PATERNITY: 0.00%—the tablet slipped from her manicured fingers and shattered against the floor.