Divorced And Reborn: The Masked Doctor's Return

The chime of the private elevator cuts through the quiet of the Manhattan penthouse.

Katerina pushes herself off the plush sofa, her hand instinctively coming to rest on the heavy, eight-month swell of her stomach. A nervous energy shot through her. Maybe tonight. Maybe tonight he would finally listen. Cayden is home.

She walks toward the foyer, the cold marble seeping through her socks. "Cayden, you're back late. The baby was kicking so hard tonight, I think he-"

The heavy oak doors swing open. The smile dies on her lips.

Cayden strides into the apartment, bringing the freezing December draft with him. His eyes, usually the color of warm amber, are frozen over. He looks at her not like a husband looking at his pregnant wife, but like a man inspecting a rotting carcass on the side of the road.

Simon Hayes, his executive assistant, steps in right behind him. Simon's face is pale, his posture rigid.

"Cayden?" Katerina's voice falters. Her heart performs a painful stutter in her chest.

Cayden doesn't say a word. He stops three feet away from her, his jaw ticking-a hard, rhythmic pulse of pure fury. He snaps his fingers.

Simon steps forward and drops a sealed manila envelope onto the glass coffee table. The slap of the paper against the glass sounds like a gunshot in the silent room.

"Open it," Cayden orders. His voice is devoid of any human warmth. It is a blade pressing against her throat.

Katerina's hands start to shake. She waddles to the table, her fingertips numb as she tears the seal. She pulls out a crisp stack of papers. The logo of a premier genetics lab sits at the top. It's a prenatal DNA test.

She flips to the final page. Her eyes scan the bold black ink at the bottom.

Probability of Paternity: 0.00%.

All the air is violently sucked from the room. Katerina's lungs forget how to expand. The paper slips from her trembling fingers, fluttering to the floor.

"No," she gasps, her throat constricting. "No, Cayden, this is wrong. This is a mistake."

She reaches out, her fingers brushing the sleeve of his tailored wool coat.

Cayden violently jerks his arm away. The force of his rejection sends her stumbling backward. Her hip collides hard with the edge of the sofa. Pain shoots up her spine, but it is nothing compared to the agony ripping through her chest.

"Don't touch me," he snarls, his upper lip curling in disgust. "Did you really think I wouldn't find out? Did you think you could pass off another man's child as the heir to the Merritt family?"

"I have never been with anyone else!" Katerina screams, tears spilling over her lashes, burning her cold cheeks. "It's yours! He is yours! Someone is setting me up!"

"Shut up!" Cayden's voice booms, vibrating the glass of the floor-to-ceiling windows. "Carmella warned me about you. She said you would deny everything. You destroyed her life, and now you expect me to