Chapter 5 - More Than a Paternity Result
Maya grabbed Daniel’s arm.
“What does it say?”
Daniel handed her the page.
The first line was simple.
Probability of paternity: 99.9998%.
Maya’s knees nearly gave out.
Emma was Daniel’s biological daughter.
Five years of whispers.
Five years of Rocky looking at Emma like she was an intruder.
Five years of one poisonous question buried inside their marriage.
All of it had been built on a lie.
Maya looked at Rocky.
“You knew.”
He said nothing.
“You knew she was his.”
Rocky’s jaw tightened.
“That report proves Daniel is her father. It doesn’t prove what I knew.”
Daniel pointed lower on the page.
“That’s not the part that shocked me.”
Maya looked again.
The lab had included a comparison note.
The archived sample submitted five years ago under Emma’s name did not genetically match the new sample collected from Emma.
Maya read the line three times.
“What does that mean?”
Daniel’s voice was cold.
“The sample in the original test wasn’t Emma’s.”
Rocky backed toward the ruined table.
Maya stared at him.
“You switched it.”
“No.”
“Someone substituted another child’s DNA.”
“Ridiculous.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“The lab preserved intake records.”
Rocky stopped breathing for a second.
“The fake report we received didn’t come from Westfield,” Daniel continued. “But someone did order testing there around the same time.”
Maya understood.
Rocky had likely arranged a real test using a false sample, then created a forged report based on the result.
But whose DNA had he used?
Daniel’s phone rang.
Attorney Samuel Greene.
Evelyn’s estate lawyer.
Daniel answered immediately.
“Sam?”
The attorney sounded confused.
“I got your message. You found Evelyn’s trust?”
“Yes.”
A long pause.
“I thought that document had been destroyed.”
Rocky shouted, “Hang up.”
Daniel turned on speaker.
Samuel continued.
“Your father told me Evelyn revoked that trust before she died.”
“Did you see a revocation?”
“No. Rocky produced a signed letter.”
Daniel looked at his father.
“Was it notarized?”
“Yes.”
“By whom?”
Another pause.
“Linda Mercer.”
Rocky suddenly looked toward the stairs.
Maya caught it.
“Who’s Linda Mercer?”
Samuel answered.
“Evelyn’s private nurse.”
Daniel frowned.
“She disappeared after Mom died.”
Rocky snapped.
“She moved.”
Samuel’s voice became uneasy.
“Daniel… there’s something else.”
“What?”
“Your mother called me the night before she went into intensive care.”
Rocky’s face turned gray.
Samuel continued.
“She said someone was pressuring her to change the trust.”
Maya stared at Rocky.
“Did she name him?”
“No. But she told me she had hidden the original documents somewhere Rocky would never look.”
Daniel glanced at the leather folder Emma had seen Rocky steal.
“If this is the original, then his revocation may not matter.”
Samuel inhaled slowly.
“It matters even less if Linda’s notarization was fraudulent.”
Rocky moved toward the door.
Daniel blocked him.
May you like
Then Samuel said the sentence that made Rocky stop.
“I know where Linda Mercer is.”
