The name was Richard Bellamy, my mother’s longtime “family friend.” According to the results, Theo shared the amount of DNA expected from a biological grandfather through my side of the family. My father, George Danforth, did not appear anywhere among Theo’s close matches. I stared at the screen until the irony became impossible to miss. Mom had secretly tested my eight-year-old son to prove he didn’t belong, and instead she had uncovered evidence that the family story she had protected for decades might not be true.

I called Ethan first. Then I contacted the testing company to secure the account and make sure no further samples could be submitted in Theo’s name. After that, I confronted Mom privately, without Theo present. She denied everything until I showed her the shipping address, account history, and Richard’s match. Her face changed. Eventually she admitted she had been involved with Richard shortly before I was conceived and had never known with certainty whether George was my biological father.