Chapter 5 - Arthur’s Note Referred to Garrett’s Older Half-Brother
Garrett had grown up believing he was an only child.
He wasn’t.
Arthur had another son.
Daniel Mercer.
Born three years before Garrett.
Arthur fathered him during a relationship before marrying Lorraine.
He did not learn about Daniel until the boy was seven.
When Arthur discovered the truth, he wanted contact.
Lorraine resisted.
She told him bringing another child into the Bennett family would destroy their marriage.
Then she attacked the same question she would later use against Theo.
Paternity.
She arranged an informal test.
Negative.
Arthur accepted it for several years.
Then, after persistent doubts, he arranged another through his own attorney.
Positive.
Daniel was his son.
By then, Daniel’s mother had moved across the country.
The relationship never fully recovered.
Arthur carried the guilt for the rest of his life.
That explained the note.
Lorraine had already used a manipulated paternity process once.
Not necessarily by fabricating a laboratory result herself.
But by controlling the samples.
Controlling the paperwork.
Controlling which test Arthur saw.
Garrett understood the pattern immediately.
His mother had not invented the “bastard” accusation with Theo.
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She had simply reused an old weapon.
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