Chapter 12 - WHO IS NOAH’S FATHER?
“No.”
Claire said it first.
Then Adrian.
“No.”
Ethan stared at the DNA report.
“This has to be wrong.”
Claire stood.
“Noah is Adrian’s son.”
Miriam immediately closed the conference room doors.
Charles took the report.
“When was this test performed?”
“Last year,” Ethan said.
Claire’s head snapped toward him.
“Who collected Noah’s DNA?”
Nobody answered.
Then Claire understood.
Victoria.
A hairbrush.
A drinking glass.
Anything.
Rage flooded her.
“She tested my child without permission.”
Adrian’s voice shook.
“Why?”
Miriam examined the percentages.
“Wait.”
She frowned.
“This report is incomplete.”
“What?”
“Relationship estimates can overlap if family structures are unusual.”
Charles looked at Ethan.
“You and Adrian are cousins.”
“Yes.”
“If Thomas and Richard were brothers, your genetic proximity complicates interpretation.”
Claire grabbed onto the explanation.
“So it could be wrong.”
“Yes.”
Adrian exhaled.
But Miriam wasn’t finished.
“However…”
Claire’s stomach dropped.
“What?”
“The percentage shown is higher than expected for first cousins once removed.”
Silence.
Adrian looked at Claire.
She saw the question in his eyes.
Her face hardened.
“Don’t.”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You thought it.”
“Claire.”
“I have never slept with Ethan.”
Ethan looked horrified.
“Obviously.”
Adrian closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Claire didn’t believe him.
Or perhaps she did.
She was too angry to tell.
Miriam said,
“There’s another possibility.”
“What?”
“If Richard isn’t Adrian’s biological father.”
Everyone froze.
Adrian looked at the screen as if struck.
“What?”
Charles slowly sat.
Claire whispered,
“Victoria said she was pregnant before Adrian.”
Miriam nodded.
“If the family tree isn’t what we think…”
Adrian’s face drained.
“No.”
He stood.
“My father is Richard.”
“Biologically, we don’t know.”
“I know.”
“You know what you were told.”
Adrian left the camera frame.
Claire watched the empty chair.
Despite everything he had done, she felt pain for him.
Identity was a strange thing.
You could lose a marriage and still know your name.
Lose a company and still know your history.
But if your parents had lied about your blood?
Every childhood photograph became evidence.
Ethan sat.
“Who else could be his father?”
No one answered.
Then Charles looked toward the old photographs.
Thomas.
Richard.
Evelyn.
Victoria.
His face changed.
Claire noticed.
“Uncle Charles?”
He didn’t answer.
“What?”
Charles whispered,
“There was another man.”
Adrian returned.
“What man?”
Charles looked at him.
“Your grandfather employed a chief financial officer named Samuel Cole.”
Ethan frowned.
“Cole?”
“Yes.”
“Related to my mother?”
“Her father.”
Silence.
Adrian stopped.
“Ethan’s grandfather?”
Charles nodded.
“He and Victoria were close.”
Richard’s voice suddenly came from the doorway.
Everyone turned.
He had been discharged early against medical advice.
A bandage crossed his temple.
Victoria’s secrets had aged him ten years in two days.
Richard spoke quietly.
“Too close.”
Adrian stared.
“Dad.”
Richard entered.
“You knew?”
“I suspected.”
“For how long?”
“Since before you were born.”
Adrian’s face changed.
“You raised me while wondering if I was another man’s son?”
Richard nodded.
“Why didn’t you test?”
“Because I didn’t care.”
Adrian laughed bitterly.
“That sounds noble now.”
“It isn’t meant to.”
Richard sat.
“Victoria had an affair with Samuel Cole during one of our separations.”
Ethan rubbed his forehead.
“So Adrian could be my uncle?”
Miriam calculated.
“If Samuel was Adrian’s father and Marianne was Samuel’s daughter…”
Claire finished,
“Ethan would be Adrian’s nephew.”
“That could explain a closer DNA relationship to Noah.”
Everyone went silent.
Adrian looked at Richard.
“You knew Mom cheated.”
“Yes.”
“And you stayed.”
“Yes.”
“After she killed Thomas?”
Richard’s face tightened.
“That came later.”
Adrian stared.
“You people are insane.”
No one argued.
Claire almost laughed despite the horror.
Adrian paced.
“All these years she judged Claire.”
Richard looked at him.
“Yes.”
“She treated Savannah like trash.”
“Yes.”
“She obsessed over family blood.”
Richard nodded.
“Yes.”
“And I might not even be a Vale biologically.”
Richard stood.
“You are my son.”
Adrian stopped.
Richard continued.
“I changed your diapers.”
Adrian looked away.
“I taught you to ride a bike.”
Silence.
“I sat beside you when you broke your wrist.”
Adrian’s jaw tightened.
“I watched you graduate.”
Richard’s voice cracked.
“I failed you in many ways. But never by loving you.”
Adrian swallowed.
Claire looked away to give him privacy.
Then Ethan’s phone rang.
Federal agent.
He answered.
After thirty seconds his expression changed.
“They found Keene.”
Everyone turned.
“Where?”
“Denver airport.”
“Daniel?”
“No.”
“Documents?”
“They seized two laptops and paper files.”
Claire exhaled.
The forged assignment could collapse.
Then Ethan continued.
“Daniel wasn’t in Colorado.”
Savannah had been wrong.
Or Daniel had changed plans.
“Where is he?”
“They don’t know.”
Claire’s phone buzzed.
She looked down.
Daniel.
A video.
She opened it.
At first she saw darkness.
Then a room.
Then a child’s dinosaur backpack.
Claire’s blood stopped.
“No.”
She played.
Daniel’s face appeared.
He was smiling.
“Hello, Claire.”
Her hands shook.
Behind him sat a small boy.
Not Noah.
Claire stared.
The child looked about five.
Dark hair.
Terrified eyes.
Daniel continued.
“I told Savannah Noah was leverage.”
Claire looked closer.
The boy wore a preschool uniform.
Adrian moved toward the screen.
“Who is that?”
Daniel smiled.
“You should ask Ethan.”
Ethan went still.
“What?”
The camera shifted toward the child.
Daniel said,
“Say hello to your father.”
Ethan’s face drained of color.
Claire looked at him.
“You have a son?”
Ethan whispered,
“I didn’t know.”
Daniel laughed from the video.
“Exactly.”
The recording continued.
“Marianne Cole wasn’t the only woman the Vale family taught to hide a child.”
Then text appeared.
72 HOURS.
DROP THE CLAIM.
DESTROY THE SUCCESSION AGREEMENT.
OR THE BOY DISAPPEARS.
The video ended.
Ethan stood frozen.
Claire touched his arm.
“Who could the mother be?”
Ethan could barely speak.
“There was someone.”
“When?”
“Six years ago.”
“Name?”
His eyes filled.
“Rachel Keene.”
Everyone stared.
Miriam whispered,
“Keene?”
Ethan nodded.
“Martin Keene’s daughter.”
May you like
And suddenly Daniel’s capture of Martin Keene no longer looked like a partnership falling apart.
It looked like a family war.
