“The paternity results are conclusive,” Dr. Vance said, his voice steady but low. “Mr. Henderson is not the biological father.”
For a moment, the room did not react.
It was as if the words had been spoken in another language, one no one inside the private ultrasound suite had ever expected to hear. Marcus stood beside the examination table with one hand still resting on the back of Penelope’s chair, his smile frozen in place, his eyes fixed on the doctor.
Penelope’s face drained of color.
Roxanne blinked first.
“What did you just say?” she asked, not loudly, but sharply enough that Marcus’s father turned toward her.
Dr. Vance looked uncomfortable, though not uncertain. He had the calm expression of a man who had delivered difficult news many times before and knew that emotion could not change facts.
“I said the paternity results are conclusive,” he repeated. “The child Penelope is carrying is not biologically related to Marcus.”
Marcus let out a short laugh.
It was not amusement. It was disbelief wearing the shape of humor.
