The Hide and Seek Game That Lasted a Lifetime novel Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Outside the hospital room, Dad stood motionless, his hand trembling as he gripped the paternity test report tightly. His eyes darted repeatedly to the line that confirmed the result, each glance deepening the weight of despair that pressed down on his heart. The words “Paternity Test Result. Father-Daughter Relationship” haunted his mind relentlessly, filling him with a painful mixture of anguish and helplessness.

In that moment, a desperate wish surged within him—that I wasn’t truly his biological daughter. If only that were true, perhaps the invisible chains binding his heart would finally break free.

Suddenly, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from down the corridor, pulling Dad’s attention away. He quickly glanced up, and upon recognizing the approaching figure, he instinctively tried to conceal the report in his hand.

“Is she…?” Mom’s voice trembled as she appeared, her eyes red-rimmed and swollen from crying. The urgency in her gaze was unmistakable, fixed intently on Dad.

Dad shook his head slowly. “You’d better—”

“Tell me!” Mom’s grip tightened on Dad’s collar, her hands trembling as she shook him with desperate force. Her voice cracked with sobs, pleading, “Is she really our biological daughter or not?”

Dad’s eyes reddened once more, and a bitter helplessness seeped into his voice like the last breath of a deflating balloon. “Yes. She is ours.”

The impact of his words struck Mom like a thunderclap. The faintest glimmer of hope that had lingered in her eyes vanished completely, leaving her staring blankly at Dad as if she couldn’t quite believe what she’d just heard.

“You’re joking, right? You’re just trying to make me be nicer to her?” she whispered, disbelief and pain swirling in her voice.

“You don’t have to do this,” she added, forcing a weak smile that only made her pallor more evident. “At most, I won’t scold her or hit her anymore…”

“Open your eyes!” Dad’s voice suddenly rose, strained and fierce, cracking under the weight of his emotion. “She is your daughter! Your own flesh and blood! Liam’s sister! How can you not see it?”

He grabbed Mom’s shoulders firmly, shaking her slightly as he enunciated each word with raw intensity. “She! Is!! A! Miller!”

“This is utterly irresponsible!” Dad’s face twisted in anger, his arm rising as if to reach out, but then he hesitated, the movement frozen mid-air.

“Hit me. Go ahead, hit me,” Mom whispered, her voice laced with sorrow and defeat. Her eyes closed tightly. “Send her away. I don’t want her to know I’m her birth mother.”

Dad’s lips moved silently, struggling to find the right words. “Do you want her to live the rest of her life in the shadows?”

The last fragile wall of Mom’s defenses crumbled. A guttural, anguished cry tore from her throat as her hands flew to her face. She began to strike herself fiercely, the sharp slaps echoing through the quiet corridor as her palms repeatedly hit her cheeks. “What have I done? I’ve tormented my own daughter for eight whole years!”

“I’m a monster…” Dad’s heart clenched painfully, as if a knife had sliced through it, the pain raw and bleeding.

He rose quickly, moving to pull Mom into an embrace, but before he could reach her, Mrs. Davies hurried over, her face brightening with excitement as she called out, “Miss Chloe, she’s awake!”