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Her voice held an edge that told me something had happened.

“Because I love you.” It was a simple and true statement. I heard her sigh on the other line. “What happened today? I can hear the tension in your voice?”

“Miranda stopped by, looking for you.”

“I received two missed calls from Miranda and some text messages. Haven’t checked them yet. Agnes also left me a voicemail about Miranda looking for me. What did she want?”

“She said you fathered a son with her. He’s now five years old, and she wants you to pay child support.”

“What?” I sat up in bed. “That’s absurd. I didn’t father any child.”

“How can you be sure?”

I raked a hand through my hair, trying to wrap my head around why Miranda was suddenly accusing me of this.

“Our relationship was short,” I said. “I can count how many times I slept with her on one hand. And I used protectionevery single time.”

“Condoms aren’t a hundred percent guaranteed.”

I didn’t like the doubts I heard in Vanessa’s comments.

“Do you trust me?” I didn’t care what the rest of the world thought of me, but I needed Vanessa to trust me.

“Yes,” she said. “I trust you, which is why I’m talking to you.”

Relief settled in me. “I don’t know what’s going on. She obviously wants money, but why? Her family has money.Shehas money.”

“She was behaving strangely today compared to when you introduced me to her. She seemed extremely agitated. Her pupils were dilated, and she was muttering to herself.”

What happened to Miranda?

“Today, she acted like the spoiled brat from elementary school. There’s one more thing. She showed me a picture of your son. “

“That’s impossible.”

“Sending an image right now to your phone. Miranda said she sent you a copy already.”

My phone buzzed, and I glanced at the image.

“It’s fake. An amateur could do this on Photoshop or any AI software.”

“I didn’t think about that.”

“Your judgment was clouded because you were angry and hurt.”

“She also showed me a video of the boy at the park playing by himself.”

“Don’t think about it too much. The video is also fake. AI software can easily create these things. It can take pictures or videos of people and blend them. Technology is highly advanced these days, and that’s one of the dangers we have to face.”

“I’m afraid she’ll hurt your image.”

“Don’t worry. I’m heading home tomorrow, and I’ll reach out to her.”

“How was your day?” Vanessa asked, sounding calmer.

“Chaotic, but efficient. Missing you like crazy.”

I could picture her smiling on the other end of the phone.