Part 5: The DNA Test
Part 5: The DNA Test
The following morning, the mansion felt unusually tense.
No one spoke above a whisper.
The servants sensed that something had changed.
Daniel had canceled every meeting for the second day in a row.
Renata had barely left her room.
And Don Eusebio kept walking through the halls as though searching for a memory that refused to return.
Marisol tried to focus on her work.
She dusted the library.
Changed the flowers.
Prepared the guest rooms.
But her hands shook every time she thought about the photograph.
Or the letter written by Daniel's father.
If anything happens to me, find the waitress.
Why her?
Why had Alejandro Robles remembered someone he had met for only a few hours?
Nothing made sense.
Meanwhile, Daniel sat alone in his office.
The two gold buttons rested on his desk beside the faded photograph.
His phone buzzed.
It was the head of the private security team.
"Sir, we recovered several boxes from the storage warehouse."
"And?"
"There are thousands of photographs from your father's charity events."
"Any videos?"
"A few."
"I'm bringing everything to the mansion."
Daniel looked out the window.
"Good."
"And Carlos..."
"Yes, sir?"
"I need one more thing."
"What is it?"
"I want a DNA test."
There was a long pause.
"Between whom?"
Daniel looked toward the garden, where little Camila was chasing butterflies while Marisol folded laundry nearby.
"Between me..."
"...and Camila."
An hour later, Carlos arrived carrying several archive boxes.
He quietly closed the office door.
"I've arranged everything."
Daniel frowned.
"So quickly?"
"The laboratory works with our company."
"They can deliver confidential results within forty-eight hours."
Daniel nodded.
"No one can know."
"Not even Miss Renata?"
"Especially not Renata."
Carlos understood immediately.
That afternoon, Daniel found Marisol watering roses in the garden.
"May we talk?"
She looked nervous.
"Of course."
He hesitated before speaking.
"I need to ask you something difficult."
She lowered the watering can.
"Go ahead."
"I want to know the truth."
"I've already told you everything I remember."
"I don't think you have."
Marisol's eyes filled with uncertainty.
"What do you mean?"
"The man you knew as Gabriel."
"Did you ever take a photograph together?"
She thought for several moments.
Then nodded slowly.
"One."
"Only one."
"Do you still have it?"
"I believe so."
"Where?"
"In an old box."
"At my apartment."
Daniel took a careful breath.
"Would you be willing to show it to me?"
She searched his face.
"You think Gabriel is someone you know."
"I don't know what to think anymore."
After several seconds, she finally nodded.
"I'll bring it tomorrow."
As Daniel walked back toward the house, he noticed someone watching from an upstairs window.
Renata.
The moment their eyes met, the curtain closed.
That evening, Renata entered Daniel's office without knocking.
"We need to talk."
"I'm busy."
"It concerns the maid."
Daniel didn't look up from the files.
"What about her?"
Renata crossed her arms.
"I know you've been investigating her."
He finally raised his eyes.
"And?"
"I also know you've been asking questions about the little girl."
Silence.
Renata smiled confidently.
"You think she's connected to your family."
Daniel said nothing.
She took his silence as confirmation.
"You've lost your mind."
He leaned back calmly.
"Have I?"
"She's using you."
"For what?"
"Money."
"The mansion."
"Your sympathy."
Daniel folded his hands.
"You've never spoken to Marisol for more than thirty seconds."
"And yet you've already decided exactly who she is."
Renata's smile disappeared.
"I'm trying to protect you."
"No."
Daniel replied quietly.
"I think you're trying to protect something else."
For the first time since their engagement...
Renata couldn't read him.
The next morning, Marisol returned carrying a small cardboard box.
"It's all I have left."
She placed it gently on Daniel's desk.
Inside were old receipts.
A faded baby blanket.
Several hospital bracelets.
And one small envelope.
Marisol carefully opened it.
A single photograph slipped out.
Daniel picked it up.
His heart nearly stopped.
The picture showed Marisol standing in a public park.
Beside her was a smiling man wearing sunglasses and a baseball cap.
One arm rested around her shoulders.
His face was partially turned away from the camera.
But Daniel immediately recognized the expensive watch on his wrist.
It had belonged to only one person.
His late father, Alejandro Robles.
Daniel stared at the photograph.
"No..."
Marisol looked confused.
"What is it?"
Without answering, Daniel walked to the bookshelf.
He unlocked a cabinet and removed another framed family picture.
It showed Alejandro at a business conference.
On his wrist...
Was the exact same custom-made watch.
The scratches.
The leather band.
Even the tiny engraving near the clasp matched perfectly.
Marisol looked from one picture to the other.
Her face slowly lost all color.
"No..."
She whispered.
"It can't be."
Daniel barely heard her.
His mind was racing.
Had Marisol unknowingly fallen in love with his father?
Or had someone deliberately disguised himself to look like Alejandro?
Before anyone could speak again, Carlos rushed into the office without knocking.
His face was pale.
"Sir..."
Daniel looked up.
"What happened?"
Carlos held out a sealed laboratory envelope.
"I know the DNA results weren't supposed to arrive until tomorrow..."
"...but the lab marked this case as urgent."
Daniel slowly accepted the envelope.
Across the front, in bold red letters, were the words:
CONFIDENTIAL – PATERNITY ANALYSIS
With trembling hands, he broke the seal.
His eyes scanned the report.
Then he froze.
Marisol searched his face desperately.
"Daniel..."
"What does it say?"
He looked at Camila, who was happily drawing with crayons on the office floor, completely unaware that her future was about to change forever.
Finally, he spoke.
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"The report says..."
"...I am not Camila's biological father."
Relief washed across Marisol's face for only a second.
Then Daniel slowly turned the final page of the report.
There was an additional note requested by the laboratory after comparing extended family markers.
Daniel's hands began to tremble.
May you like
Because the second sentence changed everything.
"While Mr. Daniel Robles is excluded as the biological father, the results are strongly consistent with a first-degree paternal relationship through the Robles family line."
