Page 48

NOW

August 2023

Lily

DNA Clinic, Docklands, Dublin

The air sucked out of her body, and Lily’s ears buzzed.

She’d misheard Ciara – that must be it. But the sound of a gasp from Zach on her left-hand side made her doubt herself.

‘We are not siblings?’ Lily asked.

Ciara shook her head. ‘No.’

‘We never thought we were full siblings. Half siblings,’ Zach said hurriedly, and Lily smiled at his words.

‘Yes, we have different fathers!’ Lily added.

Ciara looked down at her brown folder again and shook her head. ‘We have taken that into account,’ she said.

Lily looked at Zach in disbelief. He was Robert – she was sure of it. ‘Could there be a mistake?’

‘There has to be,’ Zach agreed. ‘I want you to double-check. Redo the test.’

‘And we can get my mum in to do a test too, and cross-check against us both,’ Lily added.

‘That would conclusively confirm if you were both her children,’ Ciara said. ‘But I do not want to waste your time or money. In my opinion, the chances of you being siblings are extremely slim.’

And so, with nothing else to be said, they got up and left the DNA clinic.

‘I was sure I was Robert,’ Zach whispered as he leaned against the brick wall.

‘Me too,’ Lily replied as her body shook with the news.

Lily had got so carried away with the idea of having her brother back that she’d been blind to the possibility that Zach was perhaps nothing more than a mixed-up man with an overactive imagination.

‘What now?’ Zach asked.

‘We go to my house as planned. Mum and Dad are there waiting for us, with Michael, Ben and Gaga,’ Lily replied in a low voice. ‘Although how we tell them this . . .’

Zach winced. ‘I can’t bear to break their hearts. I never wanted this. To be another one of the false leads you’ve all had to deal with. I would never have pursued this if I didn’t one hundred per cent believe it to be true.’

‘I know,’ Lily said.

‘I was so sure I was Robert,’ he repeated again, then glanced down at his phone, pressing the end button on another call. ‘It’s Mom again. At least my family at home will all be happy to get this update.’

‘Every cloud and all that . . .’ Lily replied as she fought back tears.

The happiness yesterday at her mum’s apartment would fade when the news broke, and soon it would disappear forever. They’d go back to the same splintered, broken Murphy family.

‘Maybe you should take that,’ Lily said, pointing to Zach’s phone. When he shook his head fervently, she added, ‘Okay, but you can’t ignore her forever. Let’s grab a taxi and go home. I think we both could do with a coffee.’

Twenty minutes later, Lily turned the key into her front door, where she found Michael waiting for her. A quick shake of her head, and his face fell in understanding. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her forehead, and for a moment she allowed herself to stay there, regaining strength to face her parents and their inevitable disappointment.

Her dad was pacing the floor, with Lily’s Gaga hovering close by. Her mum bounced a giggling Ben on her knee, a smile lighting up her face as she played with her beloved grandson.

‘It was positive?’ her dad asked in a desperate voice as he walked towards them both.

Lily and Zach glanced at each other, and then, with a sigh, Lily answered, ‘I’m so sorry, but Zach and I do not share enough DNA to be considered siblings.’

The weight of this swung back and forth between them all like a pendulum on a grandfather’s clock.

‘I was sure. I have champagne in the fridge waiting for us to pop open.’ Her dad’s shoulders slumped as he grabbed the side of the sofa to support him.

‘I don’t understand. Everything pointed to you being Robert,’ Gaga said, shaking his head in disbelief as he reached over to place a hand of comfort on his son’s shoulder.

‘I’m sorry, Dad,’ Lily said, her stomach flipping as she watched the anguish on his face. She looked over to her mother, but she kept her head down low, avoiding all eye contact.

Lily walked over to her mum and held her arms out for Ben, needing to feel his soft body in her arms. His arms wrapped round her neck as he sighed, ‘Mama . . .’

Lily’s mum finally looked up as her grandson spoke. She pulled herself up from the sofa and walked over to Zach, caressing his cheek gently.

‘I don’t care what the DNA results say. You are Robert and I—’ But her mum’s thought was interrupted by a loud rap on the front door, which echoed down the hallway into the kitchen.

‘I’ll go,’ Michael said. ‘Probably the postman.’

Lily heard the muffled sounds of a conversation at the front door, followed by footsteps.

Michael made a face at Lily when he returned, thumbing behind him as a woman followed him into the room.

Lily’s mother gasped, and she held on to Zach’s arm in support as she trembled beside him.

‘Who is that?’ her dad asked, moving closer to his ex-wife.

Zach shook his head in surprise. ‘This is my mom, Sally.’

Lily couldn’t believe her eyes as she stared at the woman that she’d been obsessing over for days now. Sally was dressed casually in loungewear and bright white trainers. Her blonde hair was tied back in a low ponytail. She looked as wholesome as apple pie.

Zach walked towards his mother, and they embraced. ‘What on earth are you doing here?’

Lily heard her mother omit an anguished groan as she watched them hug each other, and Lily quickly rushed to her side, along with Michael, her dad and Gaga.

The Murphy family, united, ready to protect each other.

‘I’ve been calling you, trying to tell you that I was on my way, but you haven’t taken my calls,’ Sally said. ‘I came straight from the airport.’

‘How did you get this address?’ Lily asked, feeling vulnerable again. Michael placed a protective arm round her and took Ben into his arms.

‘Zach’s secretary gave it to me,’ Sally replied, then she looked up to Zach. ‘You had it in your online diary. Don’t be cross with her; you know how persuasive I can be.’

‘Why are you here?’ Zach asked in a low voice.

‘I was worried about you. When Jenny told me what you were going through here, on your own . . . I had to come over. I caught the overnight flight, and arrived this morning.’ Her mouth turned down at the corners and it looked as if she might cry. ‘I’ve been so worried, thinking about you dealing with this on your own. Have you been to the clinic yet?’

‘Yes. I’m so sorry for making you worry so much, Mom . . .’

Sally’s face blanched as she clasped her son’s hand, interrupting him. ‘You have nothing to be sorry about. None of this is your fault.’

Before Zach could continue, Lily’s mum called out, surprising them all, ‘You need to leave, Sally. We don’t want you here.’

Sally’s only response was to raise an eyebrow in her direction.

‘Mom, this is Kimberly and Jason Murphy. They are the couple whose child was abducted. I thought . . . I thought I was their son, Robert, and I’ll never forgive myself for getting their hopes up. We’ve come back from the clinic. The DNA results were negative. I’m not Robert.’

Sally’s face fell, and her eyes glistened, ‘I’m sorry, Zach. You shouldn’t have had to go through that without me.’

‘You’re not angry with me?’ Zach asked.

‘Of course not. You were searching for the truth. I understand that,’ Sally replied.

‘I think it’s best you both left,’ Gaga said, taking a step forward, leaning heavily on his walking cane. ‘It’s been a distressing day for my family. We need to get our heads around the results. In private.’

Sally looked over to the Murphy family again, but focused her eyes on Lily’s mum. ‘Not before I say hello to an old friend. How are you . . . what is it you call yourself now . . . Kimberly ?’