Chapter 13 - The Truth Beneath the Lie
The paternity results arrived at 10:17 the following morning.
Maeve sat beside Donovan in the townhouse living room while Julian waited near the door.
Neither spoke.
The envelope lay on the coffee table.
Sealed.
Ordinary.
Terrifying.
Maeve reached for it, then stopped.
“Do you want to open it?”
Donovan shook his head.
“You should.”
“It's your child, too.”
“And your pregnancy. You decide when you're ready.”
She looked at him.
In another life, it might have been a simple moment between two people waiting for a medical result. There might have been nervous laughter, a reassuring kiss, and a promise that everything would be fine.
Their reality was different.
The envelope could determine who inherited a criminal empire.
It could decide whether Victor's scheme succeeded.
It could reveal whether the person Maeve had trusted most in this nightmare had been telling the truth all along.
She broke the seal.
Inside was a printed report.
Maeve read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
Her hands began to tremble.
Donovan rose.
“Maeve?”
She looked up at him, tears already forming in her eyes.
“The probability of paternity is greater than 99.99 percent.”
Donovan didn't move.
For a moment, he seemed unable to breathe.
Then he lowered himself into the chair beside her and took the report.
He read it once.
Twice.
Then he closed his eyes.
The relief that crossed his face was so raw that Maeve felt her own composure break.
He turned toward her.
“It's our baby.”
“Yes.”
He took her hand and pressed it gently against his cheek.
“I know I shouldn't have needed a test to believe you.”
Maeve shook her head.
“You didn't ask for it. Someone forced us into this.”
“Still.”
He kissed her knuckles.
“I should have protected you from the doubt.”
She leaned toward him.
For a moment, they simply held each other.
Then Julian's phone rang.
He answered, listened, and immediately straightened.
“Sir, we have a problem.”
Donovan reluctantly released Maeve's hand.
“What happened?”
“The laboratory confirmed the results were sent to the correct email address, but someone attempted to access the report before we received it.”
“Who?”
“An account registered to Dr. Evelyn Shaw.”
Maeve's relief faded.
“Who is she?”
Julian hesitated.
“The physician whose credentials were used to access your medical records.”
Donovan stood.
“Find her.”
“Already underway.”
Julian turned toward the door.
Then he stopped.
“There's another issue.”
“What?”
“The report was not the only file accessed. Someone downloaded the sample tracking records and the chain-of-custody documents.”
Maeve looked at the paper in her hands.
“So they could claim the results were changed.”
“Yes.”
Donovan's expression hardened.
“Then we'll obtain a second test through a different laboratory.”
Maeve nodded.
“I want the second test, too.”
“Of course.”
She took a breath.
“But I want to know something before we do anything else.”
Donovan looked at her.
“What?”
“Why does Victor care so much about whether our baby is yours? If his real objective is to control the trust, he could simply challenge the inheritance.”
Julian answered.
“Because the trust contains more than money. It includes controlling votes in every major company owned by the family.”
“And if the heir is confirmed?”
“Victor loses the ability to transfer those votes without independent approval.”
Maeve looked at the report.
“Then he needs the child to be legally unrecognized.”
Donovan nodded.
“Or he needs the child not to exist.”
The room went silent.
Maeve's hand moved instinctively to her belly.
Donovan noticed and stepped closer.
“I won't let him hurt you.”
She looked at him.
“Don't promise what you can't control.”
He stopped.
“You're right,” he said quietly. “I won't.”
Instead, he took her hand.
“But I will stand beside you while we stop him.”
That was the promise she needed.
Two hours later, Julian returned with a file recovered from Dr. Shaw's office.
The file contained a series of requests submitted under false identities.
One had been made by Victor.
One by Matteo Vescari.
The third had been submitted by a name that made Donovan's face lose all color.
THOMAS HAYES.
His father had been dead for years.
Maeve stared at the date.
The request had been submitted six months before the gala.
“Someone is using your father's identity,” she said.
Donovan slowly shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
He opened the file.
Attached to the request was a scanned document signed by Thomas Hayes. It authorized a private medical inquiry into the descendants of the Hayes family.
The document was dated two weeks before his death.
Donovan studied the signature.
“It looks authentic.”
“Could it have been forged?”
“Possibly.”
Julian opened another file.
“This request references a patient code from the private clinic where Elena gave birth.”
Maeve felt her heart pound.
“Can the code be traced?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
Julian checked the screen.
Then he looked up.
“The clinic registered two newborns on the same night. One was Elena's son, Adrian. The other was a child identified only as Baby H.”
Donovan went perfectly still.
“Baby H?”
“The records show the second child's biological mother was listed as deceased. The father's identity was sealed by court order.”
Maeve could hardly speak.
“Who was the father?”
“The record is incomplete.”
Donovan turned toward the screen.
“Find the original.”
Julian typed rapidly.
A few minutes later, a scanned hospital form appeared.
The mother's name had been blacked out.
The father's name was partially visible.
Only the first initial and surname remained.
D. HAYES.
Maeve stared at the screen.
Then she looked at Donovan.
His face had become ashen.
“I have never been treated at that clinic,” he said.
“Could the record refer to someone else?” Maeve asked.
“Perhaps.”
But neither of them believed that was the most likely explanation.
Julian opened the next page.
It contained a note written by the attending physician.
The child is to be transferred to the custody of Victor Sloane until the court establishes legal parentage.
Silence swallowed the room.
Donovan stared at the words.
His half-brother had not simply hidden Elena's child.
He had been entrusted with another baby whose father might also belong to the Hayes family.
A baby born three years earlier.
A baby whose mother had supposedly died.
And a baby whose existence had been concealed using Donovan's family name.
Maeve's voice trembled.
“Donovan, what if Victor's plan isn't only about our child?”
He looked at her.
“What do you mean?”
“What if he's been hiding heirs for years?”
Julian opened another directory.
Inside were photographs of several children, each labeled with a date and a medical reference number.
One photograph showed a little girl with dark hair and striking blue eyes.
Beneath it was a name.
LILY HAYES.
Donovan stepped closer.
“Who is she?”
Julian shook his head.
“We're trying to establish that.”
Maeve looked at the date.
The little girl was approximately the same age as Adrian.
Then she noticed the name of the clinic where the photograph had been taken.
It was the same private medical center where Dr. Samuel Reed said Elena had delivered her son.
Maeve felt cold.
“Donovan.”
He turned.
“The people who threatened our baby may have been using your family to hide children before we ever met.”
For the first time, Donovan seemed to understand the full scale of the conspiracy.
It wasn't one stolen inheritance.
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It was a system built on false identities, concealed births, forged records, and children whose existence had become a financial liability.
And someone had decided Maeve's unborn child would be the next piece on the board.
