Can’t Win Me Back by Ginger Sue

"Javier, listen! Your child is kicking my belly. She took after your strength!"
"Javier, look! Betty's eyes and mouth resembled yours. She's a carbon copy of you!"
A carbon copy of his? Javier's lips twitched uncontrollably in an ugly manner.
Javier had always prided himself on his wits and the elite education he had received. He couldn't believe that he had been fooled by Sophia, an actress who had hailed from the slums.
However, there was nothing he could do about it-Sophia was long dead.
Surrounded by the merciless media, the forlorn Javier escaped the press conference with the help of Neil and the other bodyguards.
At first, he had planned to save the situation as the family patriarch, but he hadn't expected it to backfire. The Beckett family, riddled with scandals, now had one more stain on its history.
He had become a clown.
He finally got into the car, looking disheveled in his wrinkled suit and messy hair. The reporters pressed their lenses against the car window to take photos of his stiff and pale expression. They continued directing pointed questions on Betty's paternity to him.
"What are you doing? Go!" Javier angrily kicked the driver's seat as he neared a meltdown.
The fearful driver immediately accelerated and sped away from the Berenike Hotel's parking lot.
At the same time, Neil continued scrolling through Twitter. Upon seeing Betty's paternity scandal top the trending topics, outshining Zoe, he felt worried. However, he dared not tell Javier about it. He feared that the news might deal a final blow to the latter.
"Why did this happen? Why?"
"Mr. Javier, I've inspected the paternity test result from Mr. Jasper." Taking a deep breath, Neil confessed, "It's genuine."
"Sophia Kirkman, how dare you lie to me?" Javier punched the car window and growled in madness.
"Mr. Javier, do not do this to yourself. If you look at it differently, this revelation might be good for you." Neil advised in a low voice, "Anything that has to do with pride ultimately does not matter. You might feel humiliated now, but it's better than never learning the truth and being forever fooled by them.
"Over the years, Ms. Betty... Sophia's daughter acted brazenly and stirred up a lot of trouble for you. You know better than anyone how often you had to clean up her mess. She deserved what happened to her. You lent her a helping hand out of fatherly love and exposed yourself to risk.
"Now that the cat is out of the bag-she's not your daughter-you can finally be freed from this burden. There is no reason to worry about her anymore."
Javier closed his eyes and breathed heavily as he struggled to contain his anger.
Neil added, "This still beats Betty getting you into bigger trouble in the future- one that you might not recover from."
Neil's remark hit the spot. Javier slowly opened his eyes and shook like a leaf. "How dare they fool me! Go and look into the matter now. Track down the doctor who performed the paternity test for Betty two decades ago, whatever it takes."