He found the group home’s address, checked the dates in the child’s file. She had entered the system shortly after birth. Now she was two years old.
But he still didn’t believe it. Thought someone was trying to scam him. Maybe someone wanted to dump their kid on him? He should’ve just forgotten it—but something wouldn’t let him.
He bribed a staff member at the group home. Asked her to smuggle out the little girl’s pacifier.
He got a DNA test.
The results came a week later. Only one line mattered:
99.9%.
Lynn was his daughter.
He sat in his bedroom, hiding the papers from his parents, and all he could hear was the ringing in his ears.
He didn’t know what to feel.
He went to the group home. Saw her for the first time. Small. Fragile. A tiny thing.
She was sitting in a playpen in the group room, chewing on a toy. Light hair, big green eyes.
His eyes.
There was no doubt she was his child.
He froze in the doorway. Didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t imagine himself as a father. The word didn’t fit him; it didn’t compute. He’d lived without attachments. Never thought about a family or kids. And suddenly someone else’s entire life tangled into his own.
He was serious about starting the adoption process. She was his biological child—he wasn’t married, sure, but wouldn’t the law be on his side?
There was one thing he hadn’t considered…
“You’ve lost your damn mind?!” his father barked, throwing the papers onto the desk when Jasper told him everything.“What daughter?!”
Jasper looked at him, barely holding back his irritation.
“My daughter.”
His father paced the office back and forth, drilling him with a furious stare.
“You want to take in a kid you learned about yesterday? You don’t even know who her mother is! What if you were scammed? We just buried one scandal, and now you’re handing me another? How am I supposed to explain this to the public? You’re not the son of some plumber, Jasper—there are things you simply cannot do! You can’t slap our last name on her and make her part of this family!”
“Why not?”Jasper’s voice was icy.
“Because it’s a mistake!Your mistake! You want everyone talking about this? You finally cleaned up your life, everything’s stabilizing, and now you want to throw it all away? For who? For a child you didn’t even know existed until today?!”
“She’s my daughter. I’m not leaving her there.” His decision was firm.
“You want people pointing fingers at our family? What kids, Jasper? You’re completely irresponsible—you can’t do a damn thing without me!”
He clenched his fists.
“I don’t care. If I have to, I’ll raise her myself. I don’t need your help.”
His father stopped cold.
“You don’t care? You’re only thinking about yourself! Do you have any idea what’ll happen if you take her? Who stands to gain from this?”
Jasper slowly got to his feet.
