Chapter 4 - The Signature Daniel Denied
Rachel did not confront Daniel immediately.
She hated herself for that.
But she needed to know whether she was walking into another lie.
For three days, she watched him.
He kissed Lily before work.
Packed her snacks.
Complained when she pulled every tissue from a box.
Nothing seemed false.
Finally, after Lily fell asleep, Rachel placed the copied withdrawal form on the kitchen table.
Daniel looked at it.
“What’s this?”
“You tell me.”
He read it.
His expression changed.
“Where did you get this?”
“Samuel Price.”
Daniel looked up sharply.
“Dad’s lawyer?”
“Yes.”
He read the signature again.
“That’s not mine.”
Rachel crossed her arms.
“It looks like yours.”
“I know what my signature looks like.”
“So do I.”
Daniel pushed the paper back.
“I never authorized a DNA test.”
“Your mother did.”
Silence.
“What?”
Rachel told him everything.
The trust.
The challenge.
The laboratory request.
The withdrawn sample.
Daniel’s face became progressively harder.
“My mother filed this?”
“Yes.”
“She never told me.”
“She also claimed Lily might not be yours.”
Daniel stood.
“No.”
“Daniel—”
“No. She wouldn’t.”
Rachel’s eyes hardened.
“She absolutely would.”
He began pacing.
“Why?”
“Sixteen million reasons.”
Daniel stopped.
“I don’t care about Dad’s money.”
“This isn’t about what you care about.”
Rachel tapped the paper.
“It’s about what she cares about.”
Daniel stared at the signature.
Then he took out his phone.
Rachel grabbed his wrist.
“Don’t call her.”
“Why?”
“Because I need proof before she knows we’re looking.”
Daniel looked at her.
For once, he listened.
The next day they visited Samuel together.
Samuel presented another document.
William had added one additional clause.
If anyone intentionally interfered with a qualifying child’s legal status to alter trust distribution, that person could lose any beneficial interest they held under William’s estate.
Daniel sat back.
“My mother receives income from Dad’s estate.”
“Yes.”
“How much?”
“Substantial.”
“And if she forged my signature?”
Samuel nodded.
“She could lose it.”
Rachel understood immediately.
The cruelty.
The obsession.
The constant declarations that Lily was not “real family.”
Margaret was not merely trying to favor Noah.
She needed Lily disqualified.
Because if Margaret had forged the withdrawal form, proof of that forgery could cost her millions.
Samuel leaned forward.
“There’s something else.”
He had obtained security records from the laboratory building.
The day Lily’s sample was withdrawn, a visitor had entered using Margaret Whitmore’s identification.
Daniel went silent.
Rachel asked:
“Do you have video?”
“Archived footage was deleted after ninety days.”
Margaret had survived another gap.
But Samuel had one more piece.
The laboratory receptionist was still employed there.
May you like
And she remembered Margaret.
Very clearly.
