CHAPTER 8: Father Won't Leave Again

The next morning, Daniel didn't make the truth a big ceremony. He simply knocked on Noah's door, sat down opposite him on the floor, and handed him the result.

"I am your father," Daniel said.
Noah looked at the paper, then at him. His eyes widened, not with immediate joy, but as if afraid he'd misheard.

"So my mother didn't lie?"

"No. Your mother told the truth."

A tear fell onto the paper. Noah quickly wiped it away, as if afraid of ruining the only evidence proving his mother's innocence. Daniel reached out his hand, stopping mid-air. “I don’t know if I deserve to be called father yet. But I won’t leave again.”
Noah didn’t hug him. He just moved closer, enough for his shoulder to touch Daniel’s sleeve. For Daniel, that was a lot.
At the hospital, Emily listened to the news in a long silence. She closed her eyes, exhaling as if a heavy burden had been lifted.

“I’m sorry,” Daniel said.

“Don’t apologize with words,” Emily replied. “Noah doesn’t need a father who’s good at regretting. He needs a father who knows how to stay.”

Daniel nodded.

When Daniel was preparing for the press conference acknowledging paternity, Margaret vehemently objected. She said Noah would be a weakness, Emily a stain. Daniel looked at his mother…
For the first time, he saw no authority, only fear wrapped in pride.

“Your son is not a stain on my reputation,” he said.
Just before the press conference, an anonymous envelope arrived. Inside was the payment order from years ago, the last signature bearing the name Daniel Cross.