Chapter 14 - the second dna report)
Nathan called the estate before they reached the highway.
No answer.
Again.
Nothing.
He called security.
Disconnected.
Grace’s breathing became shallow.
“Call Elena.”
Nathan did.
Voicemail.
“Evelyn.”
Nothing.
Grace grabbed his arm.
“Drive.”
Nathan accelerated.
Daniel followed in his truck.
The estate was almost six hours away.
Nathan called state police.
Then federal investigators.
A patrol unit reached the property in fourteen minutes.
The first report came quickly.
No forced entry.
Security team unconscious.
Sedative exposure suspected.
Grace covered her mouth.
“Lily?”
The officer on the phone hesitated.
Nathan shouted, “Where is my daughter?”
“Child is missing.”
Grace screamed.
Nathan nearly drove off the road.
Evelyn was found unconscious upstairs.
Elena in the laundry room.
Two officers sedated near the kitchen.
Lily gone.
Again.
This time there was no abandoned SUV.
No immediate camera footage.
No ransom call.
Only a document placed on Nathan’s desk.
Police photographed it and sent it to him.
A DNA PATERNITY REPORT.
Subject: Lily Anne Miller.
Alleged father: Nathan Alexander Cole.
Conclusion: Excluded.
Grace stared at the image.
“No.”
Nathan said nothing.
“No.”
She grabbed his phone.
“That’s fake.”
“I know.”
“We have the real test.”
“I know.”
Daniel’s voice came through the car speaker.
“That’s how Marianne does it.”
Nathan clenched the wheel.
“Explain.”
“She creates competing records. Confusion buys time.”
“For what?”
“Court orders. Temporary guardianship. Medical intervention.”
Grace looked horrified.
“She can’t get guardianship.”
“She can if she constructs an emergency.”
Nathan understood.
“Claim Grace endangered Lily.”
Daniel continued.
“Or claim the man asserting paternity is manipulating the child for inheritance.”
Grace laughed in disbelief.
“That’s insane.”
“It only has to survive seventy-two hours.”
“Why seventy-two?”
Daniel did not answer immediately.
Then:
“Because the trust activation deadline is Lily’s fifth birthday.”
Grace stared.
“What happens then?”
“If her biological paternity is formally recognized before five, her descendant rights become irrevocable.”
Nathan’s stomach dropped.
“And if it isn’t?”
“Charles’s amended version governs.”
Meaning Victoria’s marriage strategy could still matter if Marianne could discredit Lily’s paternity and somehow restore Victoria’s path to Nathan.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“Three weeks.”
Daniel said, “Less.”
“What?”
“I checked the original clause.”
Paper rustled through the speaker.
“The recognition filing must be completed twenty-one days before the fifth birthday.”
Grace whispered, “What date is that?”
Nathan calculated.
Then looked at the dashboard clock.
“Tomorrow.”
Silence.
Marianne did not need to hold Lily for three weeks.
She only needed to keep her missing until midnight tomorrow.
Nathan called Jonathan.
“File the independent DNA result immediately.”
Jonathan’s answer came fast.
“I tried.”
Nathan’s heart sank.
“What happened?”
“The court registry flagged a competing sealed paternity action filed this morning.”
“By whom?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“Find out.”
Ten minutes later he called back.
“You’re not going to like this.”
Nathan gripped the phone.
“Who?”
“Victoria Hayes.”
Grace stared.
“What?”
Jonathan continued.
“She filed through counsel claiming Lily’s biological father is a man named Samuel Reed.”
Nathan frowned.
“Who is Samuel Reed?”
Grace whispered, “Marcus’s brother.”
Everything stopped.
Marcus.
The security officer.
The man who had betrayed them.
Nathan called investigators.
Marcus had disappeared from police supervision that morning.
Grace closed her eyes.
“Victoria is using him.”
Daniel said, “No.”
“What?”
“If Marianne is running this, she isn’t using Marcus.”
Nathan looked ahead.
“She’s using the family.”
Grace stared.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel’s voice was grim.
“Ask Marcus why he was hired at your estate in the first place.”
They found the answer through employment records.
Marcus Reed had not applied normally.
His placement came through a staffing agency connected to Marianne.
Samuel Reed had died six years earlier.
Or so public records said.
Jonathan dug deeper.
No body.
No autopsy.
Only a certificate signed by the same physician who had certified Evelyn Cole’s fake death.
Nathan whispered, “Another erased person.”
Grace’s face went pale.
“Why would Samuel matter?”
A call came from an unknown number.
Grace answered.
“Hello?”
A man whispered, “Grace?”
She froze.
“Who is this?”
“Marcus.”
Nathan took the phone.
“Where is Lily?”
Marcus was crying.
“I’m sorry.”
“WHERE IS SHE?”
“I didn’t know they’d take her again.”
Nathan forced himself to lower his voice.
“Marcus. Tell me.”
“They’re at Saint Matthew’s Medical Center.”
Grace looked at Nathan.
“Why?”
Marcus continued.
“Marianne has Samuel.”
Nathan stared.
“Your brother is alive?”
“Yes.”
“Is he Lily’s father?”
“No.”
“Then why file the claim?”
“Because Samuel has Cole DNA.”
Daniel swore over the speaker.
Nathan’s mind raced.
“How?”
Marcus whispered:
“Samuel is Daniel’s son.”
Silence.
Daniel’s truck swerved behind them.
Grace stared at Nathan.
Marcus continued.
“Marianne kept him hidden for years. She says if Samuel signs the paternity affidavit, she’ll let his daughter live.”
Nathan said, “His daughter?”
Marcus began crying harder.
“She has my niece too.”
Grace finally understood the scale.
Marianne had not built a lie around one child.
She had collected descendants.
Leverage.
Bloodlines.
Families.
Nathan asked, “Where in Saint Matthew’s?”
“Old pediatric wing. It’s been closed for renovation.”
“We’re coming.”
Marcus whispered, “Don’t.”
“Why?”
“Because Marianne expects you.”
May you like
Nathan’s expression became cold.
“Good.”
