Chapter 3 - The Bride Who Knew Too Much
Claire insisted the initials meant nothing.
“They could belong to anyone.”
“They’re C.D.,” Ethan said. “Claire Donovan. Your name before ten minutes ago.”
“Then someone copied them.”
Margaret gave a humorless laugh. “Convenient.”
Jenna shook her head. “I don’t need the envelopes to prove it.”
Ethan looked at her. “Prove what?”
“That Lily is yours.”
Claire slapped the cake table with both palms. “Enough.”
The toddler flinched.
Ethan’s expression changed immediately. “Do not scare her again.”
Claire stared at him. It was the first time all day he had spoken to her like a stranger.
Jenna reached into her bag again. “I brought a paternity test.”
Claire’s eyes snapped toward the bag.
“It was done privately when Lily was six months old,” Jenna said. “I used a toothbrush Ethan left at my old apartment. I know that’s not court evidence. I know exactly what it is and what it isn’t. But it was enough for me to know I wasn’t crazy.”
She handed Ethan a folded report.
He read the first page.
Then the second.
His hands began to shake.
Probability of paternity: 99.98 percent.
“No,” Claire said.
Ethan looked up. “Why are you saying no?”
“Because this is fake.”
Jenna’s voice broke. “Then take a legal test tonight.”
Claire stepped backward.
Margaret noticed.
So did Ethan.
Noah returned from the hallway. “There are reporters outside.”
Claire spun toward him. “Reporters?”
“Someone tipped off a celebrity blog that something happened at the reception.”
Ethan’s family owned a national hotel group. Privacy at their wedding had been expensive and carefully managed.
Only a handful of people had the media contact list.
Claire reached for Ethan’s hand. “We need to leave.”
He did not take it.
Instead, he looked at the wedding cake.
“That cake,” he said slowly. “Why were you terrified when Lily touched it?”
Claire’s face went still.
Margaret walked to the lower tier, bent close, and pressed one finger against the small hole Lily had made.
Something beneath the frosting clicked.
May you like
Margaret pulled her hand back.
Inside the cake was metal.
