Rejected: A love story

Chapter 184: Is he mine?

Nathan was staring at her, his face red with a mix of anger and jealousy. He didn’t like how she looked relieved after talking to Nikolai.

"You’re done?" Nathan asked. His voice was sharp, even a blind person could detect it.

Viktoria nodded, handing the phone back to Alex. "Yes. Thank you, Alex. He is much calmer now. He was really planning to fly here today."

Nathan stepped closer to her, he couldn’t help himself. "Why did he start speaking Russian? What was so secretive that he couldn’t say it in English?"

Viktoria looked surprised by how angry he sounded. "It wasn’t a secret, Nathan. He was just asking if we were safe. He asked if you were treating us well or if we were being held against our will. When he gets scared, he forgets his English."

Nathan felt a growl in his chest. The idea of Nikolai acting like her "protector" made him want to break something. He hated that Nikolai thought he was the danger, when Nikolai was the one living with a stolen woman.

"And what did you tell him?" Nathan pressed.

"I told him we are fine," she said softly. "I told him you are a friend but I can’t blame him for being worried. If he didn’t hear from me, it means I’m not doing my job as a wife."

That word wife hit Nathan like a punch. He turned his back on her because he didn’t want her to see how much it hurt. He felt like a fool. He was the one who knew the truth, but Nikolai was the one getting the "I love you’s" and the phone calls.

Viktoria felt the tension in the room and decided it was best to leave. "I’m going to check on Mateo," she said quietly, and she hurried out of the study.

Once she was gone, Nathan turned to Alex. He was breathing hard.

"I can’t stand it, Alex," Nathan whispered. "Hearing them talk like that... it’s driving me crazy. He sounds so sure that she belongs to him."

"Mr. Keith, you have to remember she doesn’t know," Alex said, trying to be the voice of reason. "To her, he is the man she’s married to and the father of her child."

"He’s not Mateo’s father," Nathan snapped. "They’re mine and he is just holding onto a ghost. And I’m sitting here letting it happen."

Nathan sat down at his desk and put his head in his hands. He needed to find Natasha. If he could prove Natasha was the one who put Fiona in that casket, he could end this whole Russian nightmare.

"Alex," Nathan said, looking up with cold eyes. "Forget the call, I want you to find out who Natasha talked to at the hospital. Someone helped her move a body, and someone helped her fake a death. Find that person."

"I’m on it, sir," Alex said. He bowed his head and left the room.

Nathan sat in the dark study, thinking about the Russian words he couldn’t understand. He realized that if he didn’t act fast, Nikolai would show up at his door.

##########

Alex stood in the study, looking tired but focused. He held out a small digital tablet and a few printed maps to Nathan.

"Mr. Keith, I did exactly what you asked," Alex said. "I tracked Natasha’s movements from two years ago. It wasn’t easy because she used private planes, but I found the tail numbers. The night of Fiona’s accident, Natasha wasn’t in America. She flew straight to Moscow. She was only there for twenty-four hours before flying back."

Nathan took the tablet, looking at the GPS data. "Moscow? She went all the way there while I was mourning a body I thought was Fiona."

"Yes, sir," Alex replied. "And I found something else. I looked at the security gate logs for the government morgue in Moscow where Viktoria supposed body was for an autopsy and an SUV registered to a shell company Natasha owns was waved through the back entrance at 3:00 AM that same night. She didn’t just go to Russia; she went to the exact place where the Ivans daughter body was

Nathan rubbed his face with his hands. The timeline was the only proof he needed. Natasha’s presence at a Russian morgue the same night Fiona died was too much to be a coincidence.

"And what about the other thing, Alex?" Nathan asked, his voice dropping low. "The DNA test for the boy?"

Alex nodded and reached into his inner jacket pocket. He pulled out a sealed white envelope.

"I managed to get a few strands of hair from Mateo’s hairbrush yesterday while Viktoria was busy cleaning," Alex whispered. "I ran it against the sample we have on file from your medical records. I used the private lab, just to be safe."

Nathan’s heart beat increased by each passing seconds. He took the envelope but didn’t open it yet, his hands were shaking.

"Is he mine, Alex?"

Alex gave a small, respectful nod. "The match is 99.9%, Mr. Keith. There is no doubt. Mateo is your son. Nikolai has been raising your child for nearly three years."

Nathan felt like the air had been sucked out of the room. He slumped into his chair, clutching the DNA results in one hand and the Moscow travel records in the other.

The rage he felt for Natasha was now a cold, hard stone in his stomach. She hadn’t just stolen his girlfriend; she had stolen the first two years of his son’s life. She had handed his family over to a stranger in Russia just to satisfy her own bitterness.

"She’s going to pay for this," Nathan said, his voice a dark growl. "Every second Mateo spent calling another man ’papa’... I’m going to make her feel that pain."

Just then, the door to the study opened slightly. Mateo ran in, holding a toy plane, followed by Viktoria.

"Uncle! Look!" Mateo shouted, running toward Nathan’s knees.

Nathan looked down at the boy—his son and for the first time, he didn’t see a guest. He saw his own blood. He reached out and picked the boy up, holding him much tighter than usual.

Viktoria stood in the doorway, watching them with a soft smile. "He really likes you, Nathan. I’ve never seen him take to someone so fast."

Nathan looked at her, his eyes burning. He wanted to tell her. He wanted to tell her she was Fiona, that he was the man she loved, and that the boy in his arms was theirs. But he looked at the DNA paper on his desk and remembered he had to be careful.

"He’s a special kid," Nathan said.