DON'T DOUBT LOVE) loving you no matter what

MAYA'S POV

The nanny's wrinkled hands trembled as she unfolded the paper.

"Fatima made me keep this safe," she whispered.

The document was old—yellowed edges, faded ink—but the words burned into my vision:

"PATERNITY TEST: POSITIVE MATCH – EMMANUEL HASSAN & MAYA HASSAN."

Aisha's name wasn't there.

Only mine.

Victor's laugh was a blade twisting in my ribs. "Oh, this is delicious. One real daughter. One bastard."

I turned to Aisha—my sister, my blood—but her face was already crumbling.

"Mum lied to me too," she choked out.

Ryder stepped forward, but Tahir's weak voice cut through the chaos:

"That test is fake."

Then his eyes rolled back.

The heart monitor screamed.

And the ambulance doors slammed shut.

AISHA'S POV

Ryder's military file was heavy in my hands.

Most of it was redacted—black ink swallowing entire pages.

But one line remained:

"OPERATION KOSI: TERMINATED WITH EXTREME PREJUDICE."

The date matched Kosi's death exactly.

I looked up at Ryder—the man who'd held me when I cried, who'd sworn to protect me.

"Did you kill my brother?"

His silence was worse than a confession.

Then the nanny spoke again: "He didn't pull the trigger. But he was there."

Tahir's ambulance sirens wailed outside.

And all I could think was—

Who the hell are you, Ryder?

TAHIR'S POV

The ambulance lights blurred above me.

Pain was a distant thing now.

The paramedic leaned closer. "Stay with us, Mr. Nelson!"

I grabbed his collar.

"Listen carefully," I gasped. "Tell Maya… Daniel…"

The name tasted like blood.

The paramedic frowned. "Who's Daniel?"

But the darkness swallowed me before I could answer.

RYDER'S POV

Aisha's tears wrecked me.

"You were there when my brother died?"

I wanted to lie.

But the file in her hands left no room for denial.

"Operation Kosi wasn't a hit," I said hoarsely. "It was a rescue."

The nanny's gasp cut through the room.

Maya stepped forward, the DNA test crumpled in her fist. "Then who killed him?"

The answer was in Tahir's last word before he passed out.

Daniel.

Victor's real son.