Chapter 2 - The DNA Report
I did not cancel the emergency controls.
But I modified them.
Freeze discretionary spending.
Suspend asset transfers.
Lock executive authorization.
Preserve every Sterling & Co. email, transaction, and device.
Do not terminate Lucas.
Yet.
Gideon asked why.
“Because someone thinks he’s evidence.”
Twenty-three minutes later, my boys and I entered a private suite at Hart Meridian’s medical center.
Dr. Naomi Ellis, head of maternal medicine, examined them.
Both were cold but stable.
No lasting harm.
Only then did I allow myself to cry.
Not for Lucas.
For the ten minutes I had stood in snow wondering whether the man I loved would watch his sons suffer rather than question his mother.
At 11:40 p.m., Gideon arrived.
He handed me a copy of the “DNA report” Lucas had received.
The document claimed both twins had zero probability of paternity with Lucas.
Clinic:
Northbridge Genetics.
Doctor:
Dr. Adrian Cole.
I knew the name.
Northbridge Genetics was majority-owned by one of Hart Meridian’s medical investment subsidiaries.
That meant I could verify the record quickly.
There was no test.
No sample.
No order.
No report.
The document was fabricated.
“Who created it?” I asked.
“Metadata points to a Sterling & Co. device.”
“Lucas?”
“No.”
“Margot?”
“Possibly.”
Then Gideon placed another file on the table.
An internal Sterling & Co. email.
Subject:
PATERNITY MATTER.
Sender:
Marian Cross.
I frowned.
“Who is Marian Cross?”
“Margot’s personal attorney.”
I had never heard the name.
The email was sent to Lucas two days earlier.
Attached:
Fake DNA report.
Body:
Your mother asked me to send this discreetly. Do not confront Evelyn until you are home.
Lucas had received the report from his mother’s lawyer.
Did he verify it?
No.
Did he ask me?
No.
Did he speak to our fertility physician?
No.
He simply believed it.
That was his betrayal even if Margot created the lie.
Then Gideon showed me another email.
Marian to Margot:
Once Evelyn leaves the marital residence voluntarily, proceed immediately with occupancy and family-asset claims.
I laughed.
“Voluntarily?”
“They threw you out.”
“Yes.”
But the language mattered.
Margot believed forcing me outside could later be reframed as my abandonment of the marital residence.
Why?
The house wasn’t marital property.
It belonged to Hart Meridian.
Unless Margot didn’t know.
Then another message appeared.
Marian:
You need her physically gone before Monday. Hart’s restructuring vote is Tuesday.
My heart tightened.
“What restructuring vote?”
Gideon looked surprised.
“You didn’t schedule one?”
“No.”
He opened corporate governance records.
Someone had submitted a proposal to transfer Hart Meridian’s controlling shares in Sterling & Co. into an independent family investment vehicle.
Requested by:
Lucas Sterling.
My husband.
“Did he have authority?”
“No.”
“Then why is there a vote?”
Gideon’s expression darkened.
“Because someone used your digital signature to place it on the agenda.”
I stared at the screen.
My signature.
Perfect.
Forged.
Then my phone buzzed again.
Unknown number.
Check the security footage from the nursery at 2:13 a.m. two nights ago.
I looked at Gideon.
“Can we access it?”
The mansion’s security system belonged to my property trust.
“Yes.”
We pulled the footage.
At 2:13 a.m., Margot entered the nursery.
She stood over my sleeping twins.
Then took a cotton swab from her pocket.
She swabbed one baby’s mouth.
Then the other.
I stopped breathing.
“She did collect DNA.”
Gideon nodded.
“But Northbridge didn’t run it.”
So where did the samples go?
The footage continued.
Margot placed the swabs into an envelope.
Then Lucas entered.
He saw her.
Margot turned.
They argued silently.
Lucas took the envelope.
For one second, hope rose inside me.
Maybe he had stopped her.
May you like
Then he tucked it into his jacket.
And walked away with it.
