Before she could answer , her mother rushed forward , trying to smooth things over . " Steven , of course , the children are yours ! But if it's a Smith family rule , then let's do it . It will put everyone's mind at ease . " She shot Amanda a warning look , then carefully lifted the baby boy and handed him to a nurse . The wait for the results felt like an eternity . Time stretched and warped , each second a slow - motion torment . Amanda sat bolt upright in her bed , her eyes red - rimmed and restless . She stared at me , the tension building until she finally snap- ped . "I went through hell to give you these children , Steven , and this is how you treat me ? Don't you have a conscience ?! " she shrieked , her voice cracking . " There's another Smith family rule , isn't there ? The one that says if the father waives the test , no one can force 14.19 Chapter 1 it ! Have you even thought about how this will make the children look ? What will people say when they find out their own father suspected them from birth ?! What are you turning them into ?! " She was a master of turning the tables , of painting herself as the victim . Willing to deceive me , to pass off another man's children as my own , all for him . Did she really think I was that much of a fool ? The last embers of warmth in my heart turned to ash . " If they were my children , " I said , my voice dangerously low , " why would you be so hysterical ? " " You dare talk to me about a conscience ? Amanda , can you put your hand on your own heart and tell me you haven't been living a lie ? " " Don't you forget , " I added , each word a deliberate blow , " when your reputation was in tatters and your family was on the brink of ruin , you were on your knees , begging me to marry you . " Amanda fell silent . The tears vanished as if they had never been there . Yes . It all came back to him . Her lover . Evan . She was still in college when she got tangled up with him - the " son of a murderer , " as the tabloids called him . She'd stood in his filthy , cramped apartment , holding his hand in front of the flashing cameras , and declared to the world : " Even if he's a killer's son , I love him . " The scandal rocked the city , from the tabloids to the highest circles of society . The Vance family heiress , hopelessly devoted to a convict's son . Was it bravery or sheer stupidity ? The fallout was immediate and catastrophic . Vance Industries ' stock plummeted . A nationwide boycott erupted against their prod- ucts , the public furious that they'd raised a " murderer's girlfriend . " In a week , the company was teetering on the edge of bankruptcy . That was when she came to me . Her fiancé since childhood .