Chapter 8 - the sample that came from another child)
Nathan replayed Marianne’s words until they became unbearable.
Charles never needed Nathan Cole’s DNA.
Grace sat across from him in the study.
“You think she’s implying Lily isn’t yours.”
“No.”
Nathan shook his head.
“She said he didn’t need my DNA. That means he used something else.”
“What?”
Nathan looked toward the medical files.
“Family DNA.”
Grace frowned.
“Your father?”
“Maybe.”
Jonathan arrived at the estate just before midnight.
He brought archived medical records obtained through an emergency court request.
Charles Cole had undergone genetic screening years earlier.
His DNA profile could establish whether Lily belonged to the Cole paternal line.
But there was another record.
Nathan read it twice.
“What is this?”
Jonathan looked uneasy.
“A second juvenile genetic profile stored by the Cole Family Office.”
“Juvenile?”
“Yes.”
Nathan’s eyes moved downward.
Subject identifier:
NC-2.
Grace leaned over his shoulder.
“Who is NC-2?”
Nathan did not know.
He had no siblings.
At least none he knew about.
Jonathan turned another page.
“The profile was collected twenty-seven years ago.”
Nathan calculated.
He had been ten.
“So it isn’t Lily.”
“No.”
“Whose child was it?”
“No name.”
Grace stared.
“Could your father have had another child?”
Nathan laughed once without humor.
“Wouldn’t surprise me anymore.”
Jonathan pointed at the laboratory notes.
“The report compares Lily’s newborn sample to NC-2.”
Nathan read the conclusion.
Probability of half-sibling or equivalent first-degree paternal relationship exceeds 99.6 percent.
Grace’s face went white.
“Half-sibling?”
Nathan stared at the document.
“This says whoever NC-2 is shares one biological parent with Lily.”
Grace whispered, “If Lily is your daughter…”
“Then NC-2 could be another child of mine.”
“You were ten when the sample was collected.”
Nathan shook his head.
“Impossible.”
Jonathan said quietly, “Or NC-2 shares Lily’s paternal parent in another way.”
Nathan looked at him.
“My father.”
“If Charles fathered NC-2 and Nathan fathered Lily, the relationship would not be half-sibling.”
Grace frowned.
“Then what does it mean?”
Jonathan took a breath.
“It suggests Lily and NC-2 have the same father.”
Silence swallowed the room.
Nathan stood so abruptly his chair fell backward.
“No.”
Grace stared at him.
“Nathan.”
“No. The report is wrong.”
Jonathan raised a hand.
“It could be mislabeled.”
“I was ten years old.”
“Exactly.”
Nathan paced.
Grace looked again at the date.
“Twenty-seven years ago.”
Nathan stopped.
He was thirty-seven now.
Then Grace understood before he did.
“Nathan.”
He turned.
“What?”
“Could NC-2 be you?”
Nathan stared.
Jonathan checked the archive entry.
“NC-2 could mean Nathan Cole, second sample.”
Nathan’s expression changed.
Jonathan continued.
“If Charles stored Nathan’s childhood DNA profile under a coded identifier, then comparing Lily to NC-2 would prove direct paternity.”
Grace exhaled.
Nathan sat again.
For the first time that night, the impossible became simple.
Charles had possessed Nathan’s childhood blood sample.
He used it secretly.
He knew Lily was Nathan’s daughter.
And Marianne Hayes received the result.
Nathan looked at Grace.
“My father knew with certainty.”
“Yes.”
“And still kept her from me.”
Grace’s eyes filled.
“Yes.”
Nathan looked toward the ceiling.
Lily slept one floor above them.
Four years of birthdays.
Four Christmas mornings.
Four years he could never get back.
His anger became something quieter.
More dangerous.
“I want another test.”
Grace nodded.
“So do I.”
They arranged it immediately.
Not because either doubted.
Because this time the truth would belong to them.
The test was conducted under independent legal supervision the following morning.
Nathan watched the technician seal the samples.
Victoria watched from the upstairs balcony.
She was still inside the mansion because police had not yet charged her with Lily’s abduction.
Nathan had moved her belongings to the west guest wing and informed her she would leave as soon as investigators permitted.
She walked downstairs.
“So this is happening.”
Nathan turned.
“Yes.”
Victoria looked at Grace.
“You’re enjoying this.”
Grace remained silent.
Victoria smiled.
“You think a DNA test makes you a family?”
Nathan stepped between them.
“Go upstairs.”
Victoria ignored him.
She stared at Grace.
“Ask him about Rebecca.”
Nathan froze.
Grace noticed.
“Who is Rebecca?”
Victoria finally had Nathan’s attention.
Her smile returned.
“You didn’t tell her?”
Nathan’s voice was low.
“Stop.”
Victoria laughed.
“Oh, this is wonderful.”
Grace looked between them.
“Nathan?”
Victoria answered.
“Rebecca Lane. Nathan’s first serious girlfriend.”
Nathan clenched his jaw.
“This has nothing to do with Lily.”
“Doesn’t it?”
Nathan took one step forward.
Victoria lifted her hands.
“Ask him why his father started storing childhood DNA in the first place.”
Grace stared.
Victoria continued.
“Ask him about the other Cole child.”
Nathan went still.
Jonathan looked sharply at her.
“What other child?”
Victoria’s smile faded.
She realized she had said too much.
Nathan saw it.
“You know what NC-2 means.”
Victoria stepped backward.
“No.”
“You know.”
“I don’t.”
Nathan moved closer.
“Who is the other Cole child?”
Victoria suddenly turned and ran upstairs.
Security stopped her at the landing.
Nathan shouted after her.
“Victoria!”
She looked down.
For the first time, she appeared genuinely frightened.
“You keep thinking Lily is the secret.”
Nathan’s skin prickled.
Victoria shook her head.
“She isn’t.”
Grace whispered, “Then what is?”
Victoria looked directly at Nathan.
“Why don’t you ask your mother?”
Nathan stared.
“My mother died when I was six.”
Victoria’s expression was almost pitying.
“No, Nathan.”
May you like
She spoke slowly.
“That’s just what Charles told you.”
