Page 156 of Ruthless Claim

I can’t move. My feet feel rooted to the floor, even though I know I should leave before this gets worse.

“That’s not how I see you,” I say quietly.

“Then prove it,” Valentina says, and there’s a challenge in her voice now. “Get the second test. Verify the results. Protect our family the way you’d protect any of Connor’s interests—with suspicion, with verification, with due diligence. If Finn is yours, the science will say so and I’ll accept that. But if you won’t even consider that Claire might be lying, then you’ve already made your choice.”

The ultimatum hangs in the air between us. I feel something shift in my chest—anger mixing with doubt mixing with fear that maybe, just maybe, Valentina is right.

But my pride won’t let me back down. Not yet.

“And if I refuse?” I ask quietly. “If I say the first test was enough?”

Valentina meets my eyes and I see everything we’ve built together reflected back at me. All the progress, all the trust, all the love we’ve fought so hard for.

It’s all balanced on a knife’s edge.

“Then I’ll know where I stand,” Valentina says finally. “And so will our child.”

The silence stretches between us, heavy with all the things we aren’t saying.

I know I should apologize.

I should admit she might be right. I should choose her over my wounded pride.

But the words won’t come.

I gesture to the door. “I should go.”

Valentina’s face is impassive. “That’s a good idea.”

She walks me to the door. My hand pauses right above the door knob and I turn to face her. “I’ll think about it,” I say.

It’s a weak offering and we both know it.

“Don’t bother thinking on my account,” she says coldly. “Do it because you actually give a damn about the truth. Or don’t do it at all.” She knocks my hand aside and opens the door. The message is clear: leave.

I pause in the doorway, looking back at her. Valentina stands there with her hand on the door, her expression carefully blank. I think about all the things I should have said from the beginning.

I’m sorry. You’re right. I’ve been an idiot. Please don’t give up on us.

Instead, I just nod once and leave.

The door closes behind me with a soft click. I stand in the hallway, staring at the closed door, and the full weight of what I’ve just done crashes over me.

I’ve chosen my pride over my wife.

My guilt over our marriage.

My desperate need to be different from Connor over the woman I love.

And now I have to live with that choice.

Or, that stupid voice whispers, you could actually listen to her. You could get the second test. You could admit that maybe—just maybe—you were wrong.

I pull out my phone and stare at it for a long moment. But then I turn and walk away, shoving the phone back in my pocket.

I’ll think about it.

That’s what I said.