"Yes! Exactly the same!"
Charles held out his phone so Luna could see, the lock screen disying a photo of Charlie and Eve together.
As Luna dropped her gaze to look, Charles watched her closely, searching her face for any reaction.
Francis had already sent him Luna''s background on the way over. She might be a Cipoletti by blood, but since she hadn''t grown up at the old estate or gotten mixed up in the family''s dirtyundry, she was considered rtively clean. Still, everything had been so rushed—maybe all he had was the surface.
"They really do look alike," Luna said, her tone calm, eyes lowered. The coldness that shed across her face at the mention of Evelyn was hidden from Charles.
When she looked up again, her expression wasposed. "But I can''t just hand Aurora over to you because she happens to look like your daughter."
Charles'' expression hardened a little.
So she wasn''t nning on giving Charlie back to him and Eve?
The moment he''d seen the little girl, Charles was almost certain that Luna''s "Aurora" was actually Charlie.
But he had no proof.
He needed to get a sample from the girl-fast-and run a DNA test.
The moment it proved she was Charlie, Luna wouldn''t be able to stop him from taking his daughter home.
He''d already checked out the vi when he arrived. The security system was average—nothing Q couldn''t handle in his sleep.
Charles was just about to distract Luna and signal Q to sneak upstairs for a sample when Luna spoke again.
"Mr. Jenkins, would you be willing to do a paternity test with Aurora?"
"If the results show she''s really your daughter, even if it breaks my heart, I''ll let her go back to her real parents."
Luna''s eyes turned red, tears threatening.
They weren''t even separated yet, but just talking about it made her heartbreak obvious.
"Alright," Charles agreed, realizing he''d misunderstood her.
"Mr. Jenkins, just wait here—I''ll go get Aurora so you two can go to the hospital.”
"I''ll call the doctor," he said.
Luna didn''t object. She turned and headed upstairs.
The second her back was to him, her face went cold.
She knew exactly what Charles was capable of.
Even if this wasn''t his territory, getting a sample from the kid
wouldn''t be hard for him. Oncel
had
it, there''d be no hiding the truth.
Not that she''d ever been nning to hide it.
She walked up the stairs at an easy pace. When she pushed open Aurora''s bedroom door, her face softened again.
Not long after, Luna came back down, holding Aurora''s hand tightly.
Charles had already gotten the doctor on standby.
The three of them walked out together.
Luna helped Aurora into Charles'' car.
Charles opened the other door, about to sit beside Aurora.
But as soon as he did, Aurora panicked-scrambling away from him, clinging to Luna, trembling as she cried, "Mommy!"
"It''s okay, Aurora. I''m right here," Luna soothed, quickly pulling Aurora to the other side and sitting where Aurora had just been.
Her back brushed against Charles''
chest as he leaned over, making freeze for a second before he
quickly pulled away, putting space between them.
Luna acted like nothing happened, gentlyforting Aurora in her arms.
The car started. Charles sat pressed to the door, eyes never leaving Aurora.
No one spoke the whole way.
They reached the hospital quickly.
The doctor Charles had arranged was one of the best in the city.
Samples were collected from both Charles and Aurora and sent off for a rush analysis.
The three of them waited in the corridor, no one leaving.
It didn''t take long for the results toe back.
"Mr. Jenkins, here are the results," the doctor said, handing over the envelope.
Charles tore it open, hands shaking.
The test confirmed it—he was the biological father.
It was really Charlie.
He''d suspected it, but seeing it in writing hit differently.
Clutching the papers, Charles walked over to the little girl, his thick with emotion. "Charlie,
s me. I''m your t