One Night Stand, Eight Surprises: Pampered by My CEO Husband --- - Chapter 157: Chapter 157

It rained again the morning the kit arrived.
Not a dramatic downpour, but a quiet, insistent drizzle that coated the city in a cold sheen of silver. Arielle stood at the window, arms wrapped around herself, watching the mail carrier slip the small padded envelope into their box. No thunder. No lightning. Just the subtle dread of knowing everything might change within days.
Damien came up behind her, hands hesitating before landing gently on her shoulders. She didn’t lean into him—not yet—but she didn’t pull away either.
“It’s here,” she whispered.
“I know.”
They said nothing more.
In the kitchen, Emory sat at the counter, coloring a half-finished dragon, tongue poking out the side of his mouth in concentration. When Damien entered, the boy looked up, a cautious brightness in his eyes.
“Can we finish the LEGO ship today?” he asked.
Damien forced a smile. “Absolutely. After lunch, okay?”
Emory nodded and returned to his dragon. But his pencil strokes were slower, less confident.
He was sensing it—what children always did, even before words made sense. The crack in the air. The shift in rhythm. Something dark had settled in the house.
The test wasn’t elaborate. Just three cheek swabs. One for Damien. One for Emory. One for Elias.
“I don’t want him to be scared,” Arielle said softly, as they stood in the bathroom that afternoon, the sealed test kit on the counter between them.
“I’ll explain it,” Damien said. “Gently.”
Arielle turned to him, finally meeting his eyes. “And if it says he’s not yours?”
Damien exhaled. “Then he’s still mine. Just... not in blood.”
A pause. A softening. Arielle reached for his hand.
“And if he is Elias’s?”
Damien flinched. “Then I have to forgive the past. Somehow.”
Emory sat between them on the couch, swinging his feet. The cartoon playing on the TV flickered unnoticed as Damien muted the volume.
“Hey, champ,” Damien said. “We need to talk about something. You remember how we’ve been learning about science and family trees at school?”
Emory nodded slowly.
“Well, today we’re doing something kind of like that. A science experiment. It’s not scary. Just a cotton swab in your mouth. Like brushing your teeth really fast.”
“Why?” Emory asked.
Damien hesitated. “Because we’re learning more about your family. About where you come from. We want to make sure we know everything we can so we can always protect you.”
Emory’s brow furrowed. “You’re not giving me away, are you?”
Arielle’s heart cracked.
“No, baby,” she said, voice thick. “Never. You’re safe here. Always.”
“Promise?”
She nodded. “Pinky swear.”
Emory reached out his small hand. She linked her pinky with his, sealing it in place with a kiss.
The test was done quietly. Emory giggled when the swab tickled the inside of his cheek. He made Damien promise to show him how they mailed it, so he could see the post office’s mysterious back door where “science magic” happened.
By the time the kit was sealed and ready for shipment, the clouds had parted.
Damien placed the box on the porch table and stood silently beside it. He didn’t say goodbye to it, but it felt like a funeral all the same.
Arielle stepped beside him. “It’s just a test.”
“It’s everything,” he whispered.
She leaned her head on his shoulder.
“I hate this,” he said. “This waiting. This doubt.”
“I know.”
“Every time I look at him, I feel both closer and farther away.”
Arielle took his hand. “Then stay close. Choose to stay close, even when it’s hard.”
He nodded.
Emory’s laugh echoed from inside as he played with the baby. That laugh—pure, unbothered, whole—felt like a kind of lifeline.
Maybe the results would bring peace.
Or maybe they’d break something else.
But no matter what, Arielle and Damien knew they were already changed.
The test was only a reflection of what had always been brewing beneath the surface.