At nine o'clock that night, after leaving the hospital, the father and son did not choose to talk in the study at home. Instead, they went to the chairman's office at Harrington & Co. International. Both of them feared that Victoria might kick up another unreasonable scene and disrupt the conversation they had agreed to have tonight.
"What I'm about to tell you may shock you," Jonathan began, his voice heavy. "But you have to let me finish. I think… the time has come for you to know."
"Yes," Ned replied calmly.
Jonathan fell silent for a moment, his thoughts drifting far away before he pulled himself back. "I…" He paused, then forced the words out. "I may have a child. A child I never knew existed for more than twenty years."
He stopped again, his eyes fixed on his son. "If it's true, then she is my biological daughter."
Ned's face remained expressionless.
