"Kiara Angela Noels; I will ask you one more time; are you sure that Vine Lucas Pinkerton is NOT the father to Vincent Lisandro Pinkerton?? I am asking you one more time, and I am giving you a last chance to tell me the truth. If you lie to me, then you shall forever regret what will happen to you." Lady Pinkerton threatened.
Kiara was silent. Despite the fact that both her parents were there with her, the girl was feeling seriously scared. She knew that if the worst came to the worst; her parents were not in a position to help her in any way. She was in it alone. If anything; the parents were likely to need her to help them; for she understood the Pinkertons way better than them, and was therefore in a better position to negotiate with them.
"Let's not waste time anymore. Let's go and have the tests done," Vine said, already on his way out.
Travis and Aletha were locked in the mansion cell. Lady Pinkerton, the live-in doctor, Vine, Kiara and the child set off for the tests. With the help of their family doctor they managed to get urgent appointments at four places. Vine requested for both the cheek swabs as well as blood tests. The results were not going to come on the same day, but rather on the following day. Vine was agitated. He did not ask Kiara who the father of the child was; he did not need to. He already knew that if it was not him; it was his worst enemy: Jeremy.
They all went back to the Pinkerton mansion and Kiara was told that she was not going to leave until the issue was verified.
Back at the Rains, they waited and waited but no one came.
"Do you think they are still coming?" Sharon asked.
"I think so. If Kiara said so; they will come," Nesisa said. "If they don't come today, they will come tomorrow. It's good for us, gives us more time to prepare. We all know that once they get inside; the first thing they will demand is our phones. As such, we're going to get new phones, and we will use them for what I plan to do. The Pinkertons won't know what hit them; trust me."
"Are you sure about this, Nesisa?" Jacob asked his wife.
"I'm more than sure. Just trust me on this one."
Jacob and Nesisa spent the night at Sharon's home. On the following day, Nesisa called in sick. Her boss was strict and all; but she told herself that she had a bigger task at hand. She went out and bought the phones, as well as a laptop. She also got a camera. Nesisa spent the whole day preparing, setting up everything and making sure that everything was in place.
Evening came, and the Pinkertons had not yet come.
"Wait until night," Nesisa said.
The whole family was now relying on her to deliver them; and they were praying that her plan was not going to flop.
Back at the Pinkertons, the same team from the previous night went out to collect the results. Lady Pinkerton collected them all, and when they were back in the car, she handed the envelopes to their family doctor.
The man opened the first envelope and said, "according to this result, young master, the probability of paternity…"
"Just get to the point!" Vine screamed. "Am I his father or not?"
"I'm sorry young master; you are not the father of the child." The man said.
There were eight results in all, because at all the four centres, they had taken two tests each; the cheek swab and the blood test.
The doctor opened all eight, and he sadly announced, one result after the other, that Vine was not the father of the child.
"All eight of them are saying that?" Vine asked.
"All eight of them," the man responded.
Vine felt as if something had stabbed him. His stomach growled, and he suddenly felt sick. He wanted to throw up, yet nothing came out. He felt dizzy and light-headed.
"Since when have you known about this?" he asked Kiara.
"I...I only knew about it when I left the country." She said, fear enveloping her.
Lady Pinkerton's heart was pierced. Why? Why did things have to turn out that way? She loved Vincent Lisandro with her entire heart and soul, and now she was being told that the child was not Vine's; but another man's? The lady wished if only they had never considered taking the DNA test. Things could have been better that way. Something you don't know can never hurt you.
"And Dave? He lied to me? Did you pay him to lie?" Vine asked. "And why would you do that? I thought you never loved me."
Kiara had no answer. She was also not aware; always questioning herself how Dave made such an error. Since the time she came back, things had been very hectic with Jeremy in hospital. As such, Aletha never got a chance to explain to her daughter the evil deeds that her father had done. Also, Aletha feared to burden Kiara with more stressful news; because the girl was already stressed out as a result of Jeremy's sickness.
"Why did you do that?" Vine asked.
"I honestly don't know why Dave did that. I think his machines made an error," she said.
"If it was an error, why then did he start talking the moment he saw me? When he saw us, before anyone asked him anything, he confessed that the child is not mine. This thing was well planned; and you, Kiara, definitely know everything behind this mess." Vine asked.
His whole face was a maze of veins; especially his forehead. He was seriously angry and hurt at the same time. That; to him was the highest level of betrayal; but by who? Who had betrayed him? The young master had no answer to that.
"Did Gareth help you do this?" he asked.
"No, he did not." Kiara said, her voice shivering tremendously.
"Who helped you?" Vine demanded.
"No-one. All along I also thought that the child was yours." She said.
Vine thought about it for a while. He was facing down, his face in his hands. No-one moved or uttered a word. There was dead silence in the room. Many scenes were playing in Vine's mind. The little boy Vincent...laughing heartily in his arms. He remembered the times when he had changed his diapers. The baths that he had given the little boy…the feedings, the walks, and the huge amount of monies that he constantly deposited in the child's bank account.
Why, why? Why did things have to turn out that way? Vine loved the child so much that to him, it would have been better if he had never known that he was not the father. He wished if only he had just continued believing that he was the father of the child…
"You shouldn't have told me," he said. "If I had not known about this, I would have been perfectly well. Life was perfect before I knew his."
No-one responded, but in her heart, Kiara said, 'if I had not told you, you would have killed me.'
There was silence. When it was 11.45PM, Vine suddenly spoke up,
"This means I can never be a father!"
Kiara did not understand what he meant, because she was not aware of the other medical issues with Vine.
"If I cannot be a father, neither should Jeremy. Come on, we're going there now. You will perform a vasectomy on him; he too should never have kids!" he directed that instruction to the doctor.
"But, I cannot possibly do that. It's illegal and …"
"You have done too many illegal things and you never complained? Today you want to complain when I give you a job?" Vine asked.
"I…it's just that, I don't know how to do that. Vasectomy. I cannot…"
"You will do it. In the next thirty minutes you will be doing it. Let's go."
Lady Pinkerton, who had been crying softly to herself, asked Vine, "Why don't you just kill him?"
Vine seemed to have already given that a thought, for he answered immediately, "I want him alive. He must live long and suffer. I will kill this bastard child of his; right before his eyes. He too must experience the pain of not having a child!"
Vine pulled his phone to call Dream.
"Get the best men in our teams. We're going out." He said.
"Yes, young master." From the other end the line, Dream nodded his head; smiling sheepishly.