Part Three: The Daughter Who Calls Him “The DNA Match”

Amy Scott woke Thursday morning feeling less like she was dying.

Which wasn’t the same as feeling good, but was definitely better. Her fever had broken sometime during the night. And while her body still felt heavy and wrong, her mind was clearer than it had been in weeks.

She opened her eyes to find her mom asleep in the chair beside her bed. Still holding her hand, even while unconscious. Uncle Vin was gone. Probably went to his hotel to shower and change. He’d do that sometimes. Disappear for a few hours, but always come back.

The door opened quietly. A nurse, the nice one named Jennifer who always brought extra apple juice, came in with a clipboard.

“Good morning, sunshine. How are you feeling?”

“Tired, but better.”

“That’s because the treatment last night worked. Your fever broke. Your numbers are improving.” Jennifer checked monitors, made notes. “Your mom’s exhausted. She’s been awake almost thirty-six hours straight.”

“She won’t leave me.”

“I know, but she needs sleep. And so do you.” Jennifer adjusted the IV. “The man who donated bone marrow last night… he saved your life. The doctors weren’t sure you’d make it, but the fresh marrow turned everything around.”

Amy didn’t say anything. She knew who Jennifer meant. The DNA match. The man her mom refused to talk about except to say he existed and made a choice long ago.

“Would you like to see him?” Jennifer asked carefully. “He’s been sleeping in his car in the parking lot. Hasn’t left since yesterday.”

“No.” Amy’s voice was sharp. Stronger than she felt. “I don’t want to see him. I don’t care if he saved my life. He had nine years to care about me, and he didn’t. Why should I care now?”

Jennifer nodded slowly. “Okay, I understand. I’ll let Dr. Raman know.”

After Jennifer left, Paige stirred and woke. Her eyes were red, exhausted, but she smiled seeing Amy awake.

“Hey, baby. How do you feel?”

“Better. Jennifer said my fever broke.”

“It did. You scared me badly.” Paige smoothed Amy’s hair. “But you’re strong. Stronger than anyone I know.”

“Mom.”

“Yeah?”

“Is he still here? The DNA match?”

Paige’s expression tightened almost imperceptibly. “Yes. The hospital needs him nearby in case there are complications with future procedures.”

“I don’t want to see him.”

“You don’t have to. I told the nurses and doctors: medical procedures only. He doesn’t come into this room unless medically necessary.”

“Good.” Amy paused. “Why is he here now? Why not before?”

It was the question Paige had been dreading. She’d promised herself she’d never lie to Amy about Liam. Never pretend he didn’t exist. But also never make excuses.

“Because he didn’t know you were sick until three days ago,” Paige said carefully. “And now that he knows, he’s staying to help.”

“But he knew I existed, right? You told me he knew.”

“He knew.”

“Then why didn’t he come before?”

How do you tell a nine-year-old that her father chose not to know her?

“Because he made bad choices,” Paige said honestly. “Choices he can’t take back. Choices that hurt both of us.”

“Do you hate him?”

“I used to. Now I just… nothing him. He’s not important enough to hate.”

Amy thought about this. “I think I hate him.”

“That’s okay. You’re allowed to feel however you feel.”

“If I hate him, does that make me a bad person?”

“No, baby. It makes you human.”

They sat in silence, holding hands. Then Amy said, “I want to go home.”

“I know. Soon. The doctors say if the next few procedures go well, you might be able to come home in a month.”

“A month?”

“I know it feels like forever, but we’ll get through it. We always do.”

---

Meanwhile, Liam woke in his car in the hospital parking lot with his neck bent at an angle guaranteeing pain. He’d been sleeping in his Mercedes for three nights now. Ever since his mother had changed the locks on his penthouse. Turned out when your mother owned the building and you were just a tenant, she could evict you surprisingly quickly.

His phone showed ninety-three new notifications. He ignored most. Opened the news instead.

“Scott Industries in Freefall. New CEO Jasper Scott Makes Series of Disastrous Decisions.”

“Liam Scott’s Abandoned Fiancée Belle Whitmore Breaks Silence: ‘I Dodged a Bullet.'”

“Vivica Whitmore Files $15 Million Lawsuit Against Liam Scott for Breach of Promise.”

His world was burning and he was watching from a parking lot.

His phone rang. Graeme. “You still alive?”

“Barely.”

“You eaten today?”

“No.”

“I’m bringing you breakfast. Don’t move.”

Twenty minutes later, Graeme appeared with coffee and bagels. They sat in Liam’s car eating in silence.

“You look like hell,” Graeme finally said.

“I feel like hell.”

“Your mom really locked you out.”

“Changed security codes. Had my belongings packed and put in storage. Froze my credit cards. Cut off my salary. I have about $800 in my personal checking and that’s it.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah.”

Graeme was quiet for a moment. “You know what’s crazy? A week ago, you were getting married to one of the richest women in New York. You had a billion-dollar company. You were on top of the world. Now you’re homeless and eating bagels in a parking lot.”

“I’m aware.”

“Was it worth it? Coming here for your daughter?”

Liam thought about Amy’s small body in that hospital bed. Tubes everywhere. Fighting for every breath.

“Yes. Even though she won’t see me. Even though Paige hates me. Even though you lost everything. Yes.”

Graeme nodded. “Then I guess you finally figured out what actually matters.”

“I figured it out about nine years too late.”

“Better late than never.”

After Graeme left, Liam went into the hospital to use the bathroom and change his shirt in the public restroom. He’d been doing this every morning. Using hospital facilities like he was homeless. Which technically he was.

A few nurses recognized him now. Gave him sympathetic looks. But nobody said anything.

He was washing his face when his phone buzzed. Text from a number he didn’t recognize.

“This is Cade Brener. You missed our meeting this morning. I’m giving you one more chance. Tomorrow, 9:00 a.m. Princeton Club. If you don’t show, the offer disappears forever, and I move forward with hostile takeover of what’s left of Scott Industries. Your choice.”

Liam deleted the text.

He went to the hospital cafeteria and bought the cheapest thing: a turkey sandwich and water for eight dollars. Sat in a corner booth, eating slowly, making it last.

That’s where Paige found him.

She appeared at his table without warning. Standing there in a different designer suit. Deep burgundy. Looking down at him with an expression he couldn’t read.

“Can I sit?” she asked.

Liam gestured to the empty seat. Paige sat, folded her hands on the table.

“Amy’s procedure tomorrow has been moved up to this afternoon. Emergency extraction. Dr. Raman will explain. You need to be ready in two hours.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Good.” Paige started to stand.

“Wait.” Liam said. “Please. Can I ask you something?”

She sat back down slowly. “What?”

“Why did you name her Amy?”

Paige’s expression softened slightly. “Because when she was born, I held her and she was so small and perfect. And I looked at her and thought, ‘You are beloved.’ That’s what Amy means in French. Beloved. Because even though I was terrified and alone and had no idea how I was going to survive, I loved her completely from the first second.”

Liam’s throat tightened. “She’s lucky to have you.”

“She’s alive because of me. Because I worked three jobs while pregnant. Because I gave up everything to make sure she had what she needed. Because I built Meridian so she could have a future.” Paige’s voice was steel. “Where were you while I was doing that?”

“I don’t know. Building a company that didn’t matter. Living a life that was empty.”

“I don’t want your self-pity. I want you to understand what you chose. You chose nothing. You chose absence. You chose to be a ghost in your own daughter’s life.”

“I know.”

“Do you? Because Amy asked me this morning why you didn’t come before. Why you knew she existed but never tried to see her. And I had to tell her the truth. That you didn’t care enough to try. Do you know what that does to a child? To know that one of the people who made you decided you weren’t worth knowing?”

“I’m sorry.”

“Stop saying you’re sorry. Sorry doesn’t give me back ten years. Sorry doesn’t give Amy a father who was there for her first steps, her first day of school, every nightmare, every triumph. Sorry is just a word you use to make yourself feel better.”

“Then what do you want me to say?”

“Nothing. I don’t want you to say anything. I want you to show up for the medical procedures, donate what’s needed, and then disappear from our lives forever.”

“I can’t do that.”

“Yes, you can. You’ve been doing it for nine years.”

“I mean, I won’t. I’m not leaving. Not this time.”

Paige laughed. Bitter and cold. “You think you get to decide that? You think you can show up after a decade and claim parental rights? Vincent has been more of a father to Amy than you’ll ever be. He’s the one she calls when she’s scared. He’s the one who taught her to ride a bike. He’s the one who reads to her every night. What are you? A stranger who happens to share her DNA.”

“I want to change that.”

“You can’t. Some things can’t be fixed, Liam. Some abandonment is too complete.”

She stood and walked away. Leaving Liam alone with his eight-dollar sandwich and the wreckage of everything he’d destroyed.

Two hours later, he was in the procedure room again. Lying on his side while they drove a needle into his hipbone for the second time in four days. The pain cut through the local anesthetic, made him grit his teeth. But he didn’t make a sound.

Through the window, he could see into Amy’s room. She was awake this time. Watching TV. Looking small and brave and completely unaware he was thirty feet away donating bone marrow to keep her alive.

Paige saw him through the window. Their eyes met for just a second. Then she turned away and focused entirely on Amy, as if Liam had ceased to exist.

The extraction finished. They bandaged him and told him to rest.

“Mr. Scott,” Dr. Raman said. “I need to be honest. Amy’s body is struggling more than we anticipated. We’re going to need at least four more procedures over the next six weeks, maybe more. Are you prepared?”

“Whatever she needs.”

“It’s going to be painful. Each extraction gets harder.”

“I don’t care.”

Dr. Raman studied him for a moment. “Most donor fathers request anesthesia after the second extraction. You’ve refused both times. Why?”

“Because she’s suffering more than I am. If she can endure this, so can I.”

“You realize she doesn’t want to see you. That she’s asked multiple times for you not to be here.”

“I know.”

“Then why are you doing this?”

“Because she’s my daughter and I failed her for nine years. I won’t fail her now.”

Dr. Raman nodded slowly. “For what it’s worth, Mr. Scott, you’re doing the right thing. Even if nobody acknowledges it.”

Liam went back to his car and fell asleep for three hours, exhausted from the procedure. He woke at sunset to seventeen missed calls from Jasper. He called back.

“Liam, thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. We have a massive problem.”

“What now?”

“Cade Brener just bought nineteen percent of Scott Industries stock. He bought it during the crash for pennies. He’s now the second largest shareholder after Mom. And he’s demanding a board seat.”

“Then give it to him.”

“You don’t understand. If he gets a board seat, he’ll have enough influence to push for a hostile takeover vote. He could take the entire company, Liam. Everything Mom built. Everything Dad built. Gone.”

“Then stop him.”

“I don’t know how. I’ve been CEO for five days and I’m already drowning. I don’t know what I’m doing. The investors know I don’t know. Mom won’t admit she made a mistake putting me in charge. We’re bleeding money and clients every day. We need you back.”

“I can’t come back. I have to stay here.”

“For how long?”

“For as long as Amy needs me. Six weeks at minimum.”

“In six weeks, there won’t be a company left to save.”

“Then I guess the company dies.”

Jasper was silent for a long moment. “I never thought I’d hear you say that.”

“Neither did I. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry. I wanted your job, but I didn’t want it like this. I didn’t want to watch you lose everything.”

“I didn’t lose everything, Jasper. I lost things that didn’t matter. I’m just figuring out what does.”

After the call ended, Liam sat in his car watching the sunset turn Manhattan gold and orange. His phone buzzed. Another text from the unknown number. Cade Brener.

“Last chance, Scott. Tomorrow morning, 9:00 a.m. I’m offering you a way out. A way to rebuild. But if you don’t show up, I’m taking everything that’s left of your family’s legacy and burning it to the ground. Your choice. Choose wisely.”

Liam looked up at the hospital window where his daughter was recovering from her second procedure. Where Paige sat beside her, holding her hand, being everything Amy needed.

He deleted Brener’s text and turned off his phone.

Some things were more important than empires. Even if nobody believed him yet. Even if it cost him everything. Even if the only person who’d ever see him choose differently was himself.

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