Chapter 2 - Sofia Had Been Told the Baby Was a Boy
For five months, Sofia believed she was carrying a son.
That was what made Julian’s reaction so strange.
At twenty weeks, Sofia and Julian had attended the anatomy scan together.
The technician had been warm.
Professional.
She took measurements, checked organs, and finally asked whether they wanted to know the sex.
Julian answered before Sofia could.
“Yes.”
The technician hesitated.
Then smiled.
“It appears to be a girl.”
Sofia remembered laughing.
She had always imagined having a daughter.
Julian did not laugh.
His expression fell.
Then, strangely, he recovered.
Two days later, he came home carrying a blue gift box.
Inside was a tiny navy sweater.
“They made a mistake,” he said.
Sofia stared at him.
“What?”
“My father had the blood test repeated through his private clinic.”
He handed her a printed laboratory report.
Male fetal DNA detected.
Sofia was confused.
“The ultrasound looked pretty clear.”
“Ultrasounds can be wrong.”
“Blood tests can too.”
“This one isn’t.”
Victor joined the conversation later.
He was almost cheerful.
“A Bennett boy. Finally.”
Sofia had never understood why Victor cared so much.
Julian was his only son.
The Bennett name would continue regardless.
Yet Victor talked about the baby as if a male grandchild solved something larger.
From that week onward, every family preparation became blue.
Nursery fabrics.
Monogrammed blankets.
A silver cup engraved with the initials J.B.
Julian even insisted they choose a boy’s name early.
James Victor Bennett.
Sofia had gone along reluctantly.
But something about the entire process always felt wrong.
Now, lying in the hospital with a daughter against her chest, she understood one fact with absolute clarity:
The ultrasound had been right.
The private blood report had been false.
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And Julian had known it.
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