A Moment in Destiny

Chapter 870 Whose Child is it

When he entered the company, Marcel called everyone for a meeting, but Rae was left out.

While she was still in a rush, Raphael called, asking to see her. She immediately limped down the stairs.

When she reached downstairs, she saw Raphael standing next to his car. The second he saw her limping, his expression immediately changed, and he quickly ran over to support her.

“What happened?” He asked fervently.

“Just an accident!” She looked into his car to see if there was a driver, then quickly told him, “We’ll talk in your car!”

“Alright!” He said and hurriedly positioned her into the car seat, then asked, “What happened to your leg?”

“It’s not my leg; my ankle has a fracture!” Rae said as she climbed into the car.

Raphael was even more concerned when he heard this, “How did you get hurt so badly?”

“Never mind this for now, I have something important to ask you!” Rae sat and turned to directly look at Raphael. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.

Raphael also got in the car; his face was full of worry for Rae, and he asked in a soft tone, “What’s this important matter?”

“Raphael, I hope that whatever I ask you, you will truthfully tell me. Even if you can’t say, don’t lie to me, ok?” Rae asked in a low voice; her tone was soft enough to lower anyone’s defenses.

“Is it about Joanna?” Raphael didn’t even have to guess. He looked up at Rae. Right now, she was probably the only one whom he could pour forth his heart to talk to.

“It is about her!” Rae wasn’t certain, but the fact that Joanna’s baby’s DNA matched Raphael’s was certainly accurate.

“Go on and ask!” Raphael said as he nodded.

Rae hesitated for about a hundred thousand times. She’d often thought about how to use the most indirect approach to ask, but she always felt it was inappropriate. In the end, it was better she just straight-forwardly asked, “Do you know that Joanna has your baby?”

Raphael’s face turned ill in a split second.

Rae felt a bit regretful as soon as she saw his face; it was the first time she saw him with such an expression, and it was quite eerie.

After a pause, Raphael suddenly said, “Would you believe me if I said I never had sex with her again!”

Rae froze in place, then smiled and nodded, “If you say so! I believe you!”

Raphael’s gaze was quite serious, and he looked at Rae’s cheeks, “But Joanna’s child might really be mine!”

Rae looked back at Raphael, waiting for him to finish.

She knew it was quite possible nowadays for procedures to get pregnant without sex.

As she looked at him without any hint of doubt, Raphael pursed his lips, pondered for a while, and then exhaled deeply before he began to speak, “I think I now know what’s going on!”

Rae didn’t say a word. She believed that Raphael was also unaware of it all, and that he’d probably continue to remain unwitting about the matter if she never brought it up to him.

Then, the words that came out of Raphael’s mouth proved her right, “About four months ago, I had a full body physical examination, including my semen. It was my father’s idea to get the exam, so the semen sample must have been taken from that time.”

It sounded plausible, so Rae nodded.

Raphael then chuckled, “You might not believe it, but not long after, before the results came back, my dad asked me to get married and have kids, at least three kids!”

Rae asked in shock, “Why!?”

Raphael continued to laugh bitterly, “You know the Gill family runs an empire, so they’ll need an heir. Other than Cleo Gill from my uncle’s side, there’s no one else. And Cleo is a girl, they don’t think she can run the family businesses, so all that falls to me! My dad hoped that I’d bear some children so that he could select the best one to inherit the family business! But I refused!”

This sounded even more plausible! Rae continued to listen and nod.

“So what happened?”

“He didn’t say anything afterward! I thought this whole ordeal had passed, but I never expected to hear that Joanna would be pregnant with my child!” Raphael was quite upset.

After hearing all this, Rae began to raise some questions, “But, why Joanna? Is she really such a good choice? Don’t surrogate mothers usually have to be rather excelling candidates?”

“I don’t get it either, but if I know my father, she’s not the only one pregnant, there would have to be others as well!” Raphael stopped short after he said this.

Rae was shocked; as if she suddenly thought of something, her mood immediately perked up. Maybe this case was about to come to a conclusion!

She looked at Raphael and held his hand, “Raphael, you said that your father might ask other women to become surrogate mothers, right?”

“It’s not just might, but highly probable!” Raphael said in a dead serious tone. He looked down at Rae’s hand that held his, and suddenly held her hand.

Rae was taken aback, and suddenly embarrassedly tried to pull her hand back.

Raphael held onto her hand tightly, and said in a low voice, “Rae!”

“Raphael!” She said as she nodded.

“Did something come to mind?”

Rae nodded, “Yes! But I’m sorry, Raphael; before I make sure of it, I can’t tell you anything!”

“I understand!” Raphael also nodded; there was a trace of dismay in his expression, “You have your considerations. Did Marcel give you a hard time yesterday?”

“I’m fine, Raphael. If what you said is all true, then I will investigate from another angle. Is there anything else you want to tell me?”

Raphael suddenly held tightly onto her hand; he looked as though he wanted to say something, but alas remained silent.

Rae was in no hurry; she knew that Raphael felt flustered.

She’d wait for him to make up his mind first; that way, he’d be more willing to cooperate.

Indeed, Raphael then spoke up, “I trust you, Rae; go ahead and investigate! My dad also had a physical checkup about four months ago, and his semen might have problems, so he used mine! Three months ago, my parents were arguing, and from the sound of it, they were probably arguing about this matter. He probably couldn’t use his own semen, so he used mine!”

“Does that mean I can tell Marcel about this?” Rae asked.

Raphael hesitated for a moment, but then nodded in approval.

Rae felt assured; but the second she thought about how all this concerned his father, she began to worry again, “Raphael…”

“Don't worry about me, I’ll be fine, I can take this!” Raphael patted her hand, then said in a very firm voice, “No matter what the outcome, I can take it! I also want to find out!”

Rae didn’t know what else to say, so she just held his hand in return.

At this moment, she could clearly feel Raphael’s helplessness and pain.

Sometimes, some things were just completely out of one’s control.

She got out the car and limped back to the office; Raphael continued to remind her in a concerned way, “Be more careful and look after yourself. Don’t go on any trips, you need to properly heal up and avoid any future repercussions! I’ll have my driver pick you up after work!”

“I’m alright!” Rae waved her hand, “No need to pick me up!”

“No way, I’ll send someone over!”

Out of options, Rae finally nodded in agreement.

When she arrived back in the office, she happened to run into Marcel who was standing in front of her office. He looked at Rae with eyes that looked like they would burn a hole through her.

She had a hard time making her way over, and he made no gestures to help her. As soon as she got close, he asked, “What did you talk to Raphael about?”

There were no doubts that he had men keep an eye on Raphael at all times.

She didn’t want to bicker with him, so she said, “We’ll talk in your office!”

As soon as he heard this, a sly smile crept onto Marcel’s face.

Inside his office, the sweet aroma of coffee filled the air.

Marcel took large strides over to his desk, took a cup of coffee, and headed back to Rae, who was just about to sit on the sofa.

“Freshly brewed, try it!”

Rae was a bit surprised to see the coffee offered to her, but she still took it and said, “Thanks! I’ll try it later, let’s get to serious business first!”

“Speak!” Marcel fetched another cup and sat across from Rae, attentive to what she had to say.

“Um…” Rae began to think, “Are the DNA results back yet for Melody’s baby?”

“Not yet!” He replied.

“I have an idea as to whose baby it might be!” A surge of excitement suddenly overcame Rae; it was as though the truth was finally about to reveal itself. She opened her mouth to try and say something, but

her mind was in a bind, suddenly overloaded with too much information that she didn’t know where to begin!

Marcel was in no hurry at all. He looked on at Rae like a leisure traveler, who was taking in all the scenery and in no rush.

Before she said anything, Marcel’s eyes shifted, and he said, “Melody’s baby is probably Raphael’s!”

Rae stared at him with huge, wide eyes and filled with disbelief. Their eyes met as she looked at his calm gaze. She didn’t think that Marcel would come to the same thought that she had just guessed! But how did he know, if he didn’t know just what Raphael had said?

At first she was shocked, then confused.

Marcel was already answering her confusion, “Rae, the answer’s written all over your face!”

“What do you mean?”

“You’re too emotional, it’s a dead giveaway!” Marcel said forthrightly. “From looking at your behavior, I can just about guess what you want to ask. I hit the nail on the head, right?”

“Yes!” Rae nodded.

“Well, I’ll have Gustavo go confirm right away!” Marcel picked up the phone and called Gustavo right away to handle the testing.

Rae looked on as Marcel gave orders over the phone. He had a very serious expression while he was focused on work. The mischievous look in his eyes was gone, as he was still focused on giving his instructions, “Gustavo, I don’t care what you have to do, I want those results within two hours!”

As she listened to him, Rae suddenly thought of something and gave a quick cough to catch his attention. Marcel gave her a look, then she said, “I think Philippa was also pregnant before. Can Gustavo get a copy of her pregnancy and abortion results?”

Marcel sat still for a while, then hung up the phone.

Rae then reiterated what Marcel had told her, and added her though conjectures, “I think Philippa was pregnant before as well, but for some reason, she might have had a miscarriage!”

Marcel nodded in agreement, “Did you ever ask Raphael how he know Philippa and Melody?”

She shook her head, “I haven’t mentioned these to him, since these are part of the ongoing case. I only said that Joanna was pregnant!”

Marcel said nothing more to her, and called Gustavo again.