Chapter 3 - The Woman on the Report
Whitmore Genetics agreed to meet me after my attorney called.
I did not use Julian’s family lawyer.
I called Naomi Reed, a former federal prosecutor who had been my college roommate.
We had not spoken in years.
Not because of a fight.
Because Julian disliked her.
That should have told me everything.
Naomi arrived at the hospital in a navy suit and looked at my swollen belly before looking at my face.
“What did he do?”
“I don’t know where to start.”
“Start with the lie that scared you most.”
“The baby isn’t his.”
Naomi’s expression hardened.
“Is that true?”
“No.”
“Then we start there.”
The hospital compliance officer showed us the original genetic report.
Patient: Vanessa Cole.
Alleged father: Julian Vale.
Probability of paternity: 99.99%.
I stared at the page.
Vanessa was Julian’s executive assistant.
Young.
Polished.
Always smiling too warmly at family dinners.
She had disappeared from work five months earlier.
Julian told me she had moved to Europe.
“She was pregnant?” I asked.
The compliance officer nodded.
“The test was performed last year.”
Last year.
While Julian was telling me he wanted to start a family.
Naomi examined the altered version.
My name had replaced Vanessa’s.
The probability had been changed from 99.99% to 0%.
Everything else remained identical.
Julian used proof of his own affair to accuse me of cheating.
My hands went cold.
“Where is Vanessa now?”
The compliance officer hesitated.
“She was admitted to St. Matthew’s Women’s Center six months ago.”
“For delivery?”
“No. For injuries.”
Naomi leaned forward.
“What kind of injuries?”
“We need patient authorization.”
Then the officer lowered her voice.
“But the person who brought her in identified himself as Julian Vale.”
That evening, Naomi found a public record showing Vanessa had filed for a protective order.
It had been withdrawn two days later.
Her attorney was Beatrice’s longtime friend.
The address on Vanessa’s filing led to a modest apartment across town.
No one answered when we knocked.
But a neighbor opened her door.
“You looking for Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“She left in a hurry.”
“When?”
“After some rich lady came screaming at her.”
“Older woman?”
“White coat. Pearls. Mean eyes.”
Beatrice.
The neighbor continued.
“Vanessa was holding a baby carrier. The old woman told her the child would never carry the Vale name.”
My stomach twisted.
There was another child.
Julian’s child.
And Beatrice had threatened them.
The neighbor handed me a package.
“Vanessa asked me to give this to a woman named Claire if she ever came.”
Inside was a small recorder and a note.
CLAIRE, HE WILL DO TO YOU WHAT HE DID TO ME.
The recording began with Vanessa crying.
Then Julian’s voice came through clearly.
“You will sign the custody agreement, or my mother will make sure no hospital, landlord, or employer in this city touches you.”
Vanessa whispered, “He’s your son.”
Julian answered, “Then he should have been born to the right woman.”
I covered my mouth.
The recording continued.
Beatrice entered the room.
“If Claire gives us the house and company shares, you and the child will be provided for.”
Vanessa asked, “And if she doesn’t?”
Beatrice’s answer was calm.
“Then we solve both problems.”
Naomi stopped the recording.
“Both problems means you and Vanessa.”
I looked down at my belly.
Julian had not only planned to steal my home.
He had built a strategy around two pregnant women.
One hidden.
One discarded.
May you like
And both children stood in the way of whatever Beatrice wanted.
👉 The forged DNA lie connected Claire to Julian’s secret child, and Vanessa’s warning revealed that Beatrice had planned to eliminate both mothers if Claire resisted.
