Chapter 5 - The Question He Couldn't Ignore
Preston confronted Brielle that night.
“What did the doctor mean?”
Brielle looked up from the sofa.
“What?”
“He said the dates don't match.”
Her expression changed for half a second.
Then she smiled.
“Doctors estimate.”
“Not like this.”
“Preston, you're stressed.”
“Answer me.”
Brielle stood.
“You're going to trust some paperwork over me?”
Preston stared at her.
“No.”
“Then stop acting like Lena.”
The comparison angered him.
But it also frightened him.
Because Lena had never accused Brielle.
She had simply started collecting documents.
Preston called his attorney.
“What happens if the dates are wrong?”
The attorney was silent.
“Preston?”
“It depends.”
“On what?”
“On whether the child is yours.”
The phone nearly slipped from his hand.
Meanwhile, Lena met with her attorney.
She placed every document on the table.
Military manifest.
Travel records.
Pregnancy records.
Divorce agreement.
Financial transfer.
The attorney studied them.
“You may have something much bigger than infidelity.”
Lena looked up.
“I know.”
“You may have a fraud issue.”
“Then prove it.”
She refused to make accusations without evidence.
That was the difference between her and Preston.
She didn't need revenge.
She needed truth.
The next day, Brielle received a call from a private clinic.
She listened silently.
Then her face went white.
“What do you mean?”
She sat down.
The clinic repeated the request.
A non-invasive prenatal paternity test.
Brielle's hands began shaking.
She hung up.
Preston walked in.
“Who was that?”
“No one.”
He stared at her.
“Brielle.”
She turned away.
“I need time.”
“For what?”
“To think.”
Preston's voice dropped.
“Think about what?”
She didn't answer.
That night, Preston opened the divorce agreement again.
He read the clause he had signed.
Then another.
Then another.
He suddenly understood something.
Lena hadn't fought the divorce.
She hadn't begged.
She hadn't threatened him.
She had simply signed.
Because perhaps she already knew something he didn't.
The next morning, Preston drove to Lena's attorney's office.
He found the door locked.
A receptionist handed him an envelope.
“Colonel Bennett left this for you.”
Preston opened it.
Inside was a copy of the military manifest.
One date had been highlighted.
His face drained of color.
He knew that date.
It was the date Brielle had sworn he had spent with her.
But the manifest showed him somewhere else.
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👉 Preston finally saw the first undeniable crack in Brielle's story—and he knew Lena had been waiting for him to notice it himself.
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