Chapter 4 - 99.997 Percent
Adrian did not tell Claire about the threat.
That mistake lasted four hours.
At 6:03 a.m., two security officers were outside her apartment. By 6:10, Claire was furious.
“You sent guards to my home without telling me why?”
“I sent protection.”
“From what?”
Adrian hesitated.
Claire’s eyes narrowed. “What happened?”
He showed her the messages.
The color left her face.
She looked toward the bedroom where Noah slept.
“Who has this number?” she asked.
“Almost no one.”
“Vanessa?”
“Yes.”
“Richard?”
“Yes.”
“Then why didn’t you call the police?”
“Because if this is connected to the merger, I wanted our internal records frozen first.”
Claire stared at him. “That is the most billionaire answer I’ve ever heard.”
He almost smiled.
She didn’t.
At 9:20, they entered Vale Tower through the private garage. Vanessa was already in the boardroom with two attorneys. Richard was absent.
The DNA report arrived at 9:37.
Adrian opened the envelope.
99.997 percent probability of paternity.
For several seconds the room disappeared.
There was only the paper.
Then Noah’s face in his memory.
Claire standing in rain.
His own voice saying, It isn’t me.
Adrian sat down.
“I’m sorry.”
Claire’s jaw tightened.
He looked at her. “I know that doesn’t fix anything.”
“No.”
“I should have come to you.”
“Yes.”
“I should have checked the report.”
“Yes.”
“I should have trusted you.”
Claire’s eyes finally filled. “Yes.”
He nodded once, because there was nothing to defend.
Vanessa stood abruptly. “This proves paternity. It does not prove I forged anything.”
Claire opened the black folder she had carried in.
“Good,” she said. “Then let’s talk about why you did it.”
She placed a birth certificate on the table.
Adrian read the mother’s name first.
Evelyn Hart.
Vanessa’s mother.
Then the child’s name.
Vanessa Elise Hart.
Then the father.
Thomas Vale.
Adrian’s father.
His dead father.
The room went silent.
Adrian looked up slowly.
Vanessa whispered, “That’s fake.”
Claire reached into the folder. “Certified copy. County seal. Requested three weeks ago.”
Adrian could barely hear himself. “Vanessa is my—”
“Half sister,” Claire said.
Vanessa’s chair scraped backward.
“No.”
Then the boardroom doors opened.
Richard Hart walked in with two men Adrian did not recognize.
He saw the birth certificate.
May you like
And for the first time in twenty years of knowing him, Adrian watched Richard Hart lose control.
“Who gave you that?” he shouted.
