Chapter 4 - THE TEST HE THOUGHT WOULD ERASE HIS CHILDREN
Dominic’s attorney delivered the paternity report before noon.
It claimed the probability of Dominic being Liam and Chloe’s biological father was zero percent.
Dominic included a statement accusing me of fraud, adultery, and attempting to force him to support another man’s children.
Natalie posted a photograph online wearing my maternity coat.
Beneath it, she wrote that truth always defeated manipulation.
The post disappeared within twenty minutes after Whitmore Health’s attorneys issued a preservation order.
Grandfather wanted to respond publicly.
I refused.
“Not until we know what happened.”
Saint Aurelia’s laboratory director, Dr. Helen Park, reviewed the report.
“This test did not come from our lab,” she said.
“The letterhead is yours.”
“It is an outdated template. The accession number belongs to a blood panel performed on another patient three years ago.”
Detective Shaw leaned forward.
“Could someone have created this using hospital records?”
“Someone with access to the patient database could obtain enough information to make it look authentic.”
Rebecca opened Dominic’s contract history.
Hale Medical had maintained limited vendor access to equipment inventory systems.
That access should never have included patient records.
Yet a former Saint Aurelia technician named Miles Trent had been paid seventy-five thousand dollars by one of Dominic’s shell companies.
Miles had worked overnight on the floor where I delivered.
He was also Natalie’s cousin.
Federal agents arrested him that evening.
By morning, he had confessed.
Dominic instructed him to obtain newborn blood samples, alter the chain-of-custody records, and produce a false test.
The scheme had begun weeks before my delivery.
Dominic knew his company was collapsing. He planned to divorce me, claim infidelity, avoid child support, and use the scandal to pressure me into accepting the financial agreement.
Natalie knew most of it.
She believed Dominic would sell the company after securing my money and start over with her.
The police arrested Dominic at a downtown hotel.
Natalie was taken into custody in the lobby while still wearing my coat.
Detective Shaw later brought it to the hospital in an evidence bag.
“We can return this after the case.”
I looked at the embroidered names inside the collar.
“Donate it.”
“Are you sure?”
“My children need a mother who remembers what matters.”
The genuine paternity test was performed under independent supervision.
Dominic was Liam and Chloe’s biological father.
He was also legally responsible for them, whether he wanted that responsibility or not.
When Detective Shaw played his interview for me, Dominic still believed he could negotiate.
“Audrey’s grandfather is turning a family dispute into a criminal case,” he said.
“You forged financial and medical documents,” Shaw replied.
“My attorney handled those.”
“Your messages instruct him exactly how to do it.”
“Natalie arranged the paternity report.”
“She says it was your plan.”
His expression shifted.
“She’s lying.”
Every person he had used began blaming someone else.
Dominic blamed Natalie.
Natalie blamed Miles.
Miles blamed Dominic.
None of them spoke about two premature babies except when discussing financial liability.
Three days after his arrest, Liam suffered a severe breathing episode.
Doctors rushed into the NICU while alarms sounded.
I stood outside the glass, unable to move.
Grandfather held my shoulders.
“Breathe, Audrey.”
“I should be in there.”
“They are helping him.”
For fourteen minutes, I watched strangers fight for my son’s life.
Dominic’s betrayal, the stolen money, and the legal case disappeared.
There was only Liam.
Then the alarms quieted.
Dr. Park came out and removed her mask.
“He is stable.”
My knees gave way.
Grandfather caught me before I hit the floor.
That night, he sat beside my bed.
“I can destroy Dominic’s company,” he said. “But I cannot protect you from every painful hour.”
“I know.”
“I failed your mother by believing she wanted distance from this family.”
I looked at him.
“What do you mean?”
He handed me an envelope.
Inside was a letter written by my mother shortly before she died.
She had not abandoned me.
She had discovered that my father was stealing from one of Grandfather’s companies. He threatened to take me away if she exposed him.
She left to keep me safe while gathering evidence.
Her death ended the investigation.
Grandfather concealed the details because he feared I would carry her guilt.
“Dominic reminded me of your father,” he said. “That is why I warned you about people interested in your trust.”
I stared at the letter.
I had spent nineteen years believing my mother chose to leave.
Dominic had built his control on that wound.
He called me unwanted because he knew I feared it was true.
May you like
Now I understood that the first lie shaping my life had never belonged to me.
Neither did the shame.
