Billionaire Baby Daddy

14. Dara

To say I was confused would be an understatement. I had no idea why the DNA test had come back negative. Anyone could see that the two were related. Jisoo was practically a carbon copy. It just didn't make sense.

I was so sure Jiyong was going to lose it. We'd already had so many ups and downs in such a short time, I just knew this would be the last straw. Even his reassurance didn't help my anxiety about the hearing. I had no idea what to do. Without that test, I couldn't prove Ilwoo wasn't Jisoo's father.

Lunch with Jiyong helped a bit. He seemed more determined than before to make us work, and I was grateful. I guessed some small part of me had still worried that he didn't believe me. Thankfully, he proved me wrong.

But, once I'd left the restaurant, the magnitude of the situation set in. Unable to bear the thought of going home yet, I made a detour to my mother's house.

"Dara! What a surprise!" Ma was excited as she opened the door, smiling warmly at me. Her smile immediately dropped once she noticed the expression on my face. "What's wrong?"

I didn't answer right away. Instead, I let myself into the apartment. I saw the remains of lunch on the table, with two used plates and glasses. I recognized Jinyoung's briefcase leaning on the floor against the sofa. I heard the sound of water running in the small bathroom off the hall. I put Jisoo down so she could go play and only then did I allow myself to burst into tears. Startled, my mother held me close, rubbing soothing circles along my back. She didn't say anything, which I appreciated.

The door to the bathroom opened, and Jinyoung walked out. He immediately appeared concerned but had the good sense not to say anything or interrupt. He stood patiently to the side by the table.

The stress of the divorce, the custody battle, and the paternity situation was too much to handle, and I couldn't keep my emotions bottled up any longer. I had always tried my best not to cry in front of Jisoo, and thankfully she was preoccupied with her toys.

Eventually, when I calmed down a bit, Ma pulled back from our embrace and wiped the tears from my eyes. "I know, baby. I know how hard this is for you."

"Ma, you don't..." I stopped myself. Part of me was still hesitant to tell her.

She must have sensed it because she frowned. "Are you all right?"

I shook my head.

She took my hand and led me to the couch, and we sat down. "Honey, you know you can tell me anything." She gave my hand a squeeze.

I closed my eyes, needing a moment to gather my courage. There hadn't been much in my life that I'd kept from her, which made it all the more difficult to finally tell her the secret I'd been holding in for the past two years.

I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. "Ilwoo isn't Jisoo's father."

Jinyoung made a noise that sounded like he was trying to suppress an exclamation, but to my astonishment, Ma simply gave a small nod. "I sometimes wondered about that."

"Really?"

"Well, she doesn't look like Ilwoo at all, and she only looks like you around the eyes, well, really, the same hair color." She paused. "Does Ilwoo know?"

"No, he doesn't. I've been in contact with Jisoo's biological father, and he and Jisoo took a DNA test. I wanted to give the results to the judge so this nightmare could all be over and done with."

Mom tilted her head. "I take it things didn't go well."

"The results were negative." I stared at the ceiling for a moment and paused to try and pull myself together. "It doesn't make sense! Ma, there's no way Ilwoo can be Jisoo's father. Jiyong clearly is. I wasn't with anyone else during that time. I don't know what to do!"