The mother-in-law CLUTCHED a DNA test envelope, her eyes gleaming with malice. The room froze as the BRIDE’S words stunned every guest!

Nathan smiled too tightly. You really think it’s a good idea to tell your husband that your ex looks like a Calvin Klein model? She rolled her eyes. It was a joke, but Nathan didn’t laugh.

The next day, during Noah’s birthday dinner, Nathan brought up Logan again, too loudly, too pointedly. The room fell silent. Helen saw her opening.

In a voice dripping with false concerns, she said, Grace, honey, was there ever anything serious between you and Logan? I mean, he’s been living here in Savannah all these years, hasn’t he? Nathan glanced sideways at his mother. Mom, no, I’m just saying, it’s interesting timing. I remember how rocky things were right before you found out about Noah.

That was it. The room cracked open like ice on a frozen lake. Grace felt her throat dry as Helen turned to Nathan and whispered, and you always wondered why Noah looks nothing like you.

In the blur that followed, Nathan stood. His chair scraped the floor. His voice shook, not with anger, but disbelief.

We’re getting a paternity test or this marriage is over. Grace stared at him, jaw clenched, heart cracking. Fine, she said, but only if you take one, too, with your dad.

The air in the room shattered. Even Helen lost her color. Nathan blinked.

What if we’re playing the trust game? Grace said calmly. Let’s play it all the way. The day Grace agreed to the DNA test, she didn’t cry.

She didn’t scream or beg. She just stood there staring into Nathan’s eyes like she was trying to reach the man who once promised to protect her from all the pain in the world. But all she saw in his gaze was doubt, a seed planted not by facts, but by fear and whispers.

Nathan’s lips moved, but the words came from someone else. Do you even hear yourself testing my father? That’s absurd. Grace’s voice was steady, but her soul trembled beneath it.

What’s absurd is that you’re willing to test your wife, the mother of your child, without hesitation. But you flinch the second I ask for equality. If I have to prove I’m not a liar, then so do you and everyone else whispering in your ear.

Helen stood in the corner, arms crossed, eyes narrowed like a hawk circling a wounded animal. She didn’t say a word. She didn’t need to.

Her silence was poison enough. That night, Nathan slept on the couch. Grace lay awake, the baby monitor hissing with Noah’s soft breathing beside her…