A Man with Nerves of Steel (Joseph Hart) novel Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Natalie read the conclusion on the paternity report that stated she had no blood relation to Joseph. For some reason, her heart skipped a beat.

She scrutinized Joseph. “Is this real?”

“The evidence is irrefutable. You and I don’t share a single drop of blood. You’re the child Cora had with another man. From now on, you’re on your own, and so am I. There’s nothing tying us together anymore,” he said.

“Then what am I supposed to do?”

“Take your sisters home. Go ask Cora who your biological father is, then go tell him that he’s your dad. Oh, and she’s done a paternity test, too. She was shameless enough to flat-out deny the results!”

“I can’t just take your word for it. I need to go home and confront Mom about this. If this is true, then I’m not your daughter, and you’re not my dad. You don’t get to boss me around anymore!”

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Natalie walked out without another look back. The whole situation just felt surreal to her, and she was exceptionally lighthearted. She couldn’t hide the excitement and nerves boiling in her chest.

She thought to herself that, of course, someone as broke and useless as Joseph couldn’t be her real father. Her real father had to be rich, powerful, and way better than Joseph. Otherwise, why would Cora have picked him?

Since Cora refused to give her money, she would go ask her real father for it. Honestly, Cora was something else for keeping this from her all these years. She was too much! But beyond that, Natalie was just dying to know what kind of man Cora had picked to be her biological father.

Joseph felt a dull ache in his chest as he watched Natalie leave with barely contained excitement. He had poured his heart and soul into raising her for over a decade, yet she’d walked away without hesitation the moment she learned there were no blood ties between them. She was heartbreakingly cold.

But soon, he let out a breath and forced himself to accept it. After all, the same blood didn’t run in their veins.

“That’d be great. She dumped all three of them on me first thing this morning, trying to use them to tie me down so I’d give up on the divorce and go back to her as if nothing had happened.”

“Three? I didn’t see Natalie, though.”

Joseph explained, “She’s almost all grown up now. She has her own opinions and her own sense of the world. She can handle some things, and she was going to have to face all of this sooner or later, anyway. That’s why I didn’t hide the truth from her.

“I told her straight up that Cora and I are getting divorced. She went home to demand an explanation from Cora. She should be almost there by now.”

“Nat and my granddaughter are the same age. They’re almost 16, which means they’re practically adults by now. You and Cora were never going to be able to keep this from her. Since she had to find out eventually, telling her earlier rather than later might actually be the better way.”

Walt fixed his gaze on Joseph and continued, “I also went to see Bernard. We talked about you and Cora. I heard you asked the Lowell family for a huge compensation payout. Is that true?”