Chapter 5 - The Test Grant Never Knew Existed
Adrian Kingsley stood outside the hospital room demanding to see Claire.
Grant didn't move.
"Open the door," Adrian called.
Claire whispered, "Please don't."
Grant stared at her stomach.
Then at the door.
Then back at her.
"My brother?"
She began to cry.
"Grant—"
"My brother?"
"It wasn't supposed to happen."
Roman opened the door before Grant could.
Adrian rushed inside.
He was thirty, blond where Grant was dark, with the same Kingsley eyes.
He went directly to Claire.
Grant hit him.
The punch dropped Adrian against the wall.
"Grant!"
Claire screamed.
Roman caught Grant before the second blow.
"Enough."
"Let go of me."
"No."
Adrian wiped blood from his mouth.
"I deserve that."
Grant lunged again.
Roman shoved him back.
I pressed Sophie closer as she began crying.
Every man in the room stopped.
Her cry did what reason couldn't.
Silence returned.
"Get them out," I said.
Roman looked at me.
"All of them."
Grant's expression shifted.
"Elena."
"Out."
He pointed toward Sophie.
"We're not finished."
"We were finished six months ago."
Roman escorted them into the corridor.
Claire paused at the door.
"I'm sorry."
I looked at her.
"Then tell the truth."
Her lips parted.
Grant called her name.
She left.
Roman returned minutes later.
I was crying silently.
He didn't mention it.
He sat beside me.
"Do you want me to take her?"
"No."
"You need rest."
"I need answers."
I remembered the anonymous letter.
For six months I had hidden it.
Now secrecy seemed pointless.
"There's something I didn't tell you."
Roman's expression sharpened.
I told him about the letter.
His face changed when I repeated the final line.
Ask Roman what happened to your father.
"Where is it?"
"In my apartment."
"Where?"
"Inside a cookbook."
"Which one?"
"Roman."
"Which one?"
"Julia Child."
He called someone.
"Retrieve a cookbook from Elena's kitchen. Photograph everything inside. Touch nothing unnecessarily."
He disconnected.
"Now tell me."
Roman leaned forward.
"Your father discovered Charles Kingsley was moving company money through shell corporations."
"Illegal?"
"Some."
"How much?"
"Enough."
"And you?"
"My family had money invested with Kingsley Holdings."
"So Dad contacted you."
"Yes."
"That night?"
Roman nodded.
"He was bringing me evidence."
My throat tightened.
"The accident."
"I arrived minutes after."
"You said your car was there."
"It was. After the crash."
"Did you see who hit him?"
"No."
"Do you know?"
Roman's jaw tightened.
"I suspected."
"Charles?"
"I couldn't prove it."
I stared at him.
"You've known this for eleven years."
"Yes."
"And never told me."
"Your mother asked me not to."
"My mother knows?"
"Some."
I felt betrayed from every direction.
Then Roman's phone buzzed.
Photographs.
The letter.
The laboratory report.
He enlarged it.
His expression changed.
"What?"
"This isn't Grant's test."
"It has his name."
"The patient number."
He showed me.
G.K.-7714.
"Meaning?"
"Kingsley Medical uses birth-date coding."
"So?"
"Grant's birthday is November third."
"And?"
"7714 doesn't correspond."
Roman made a call.
"Run this patient number."
A response came within minutes.
Roman read it twice.
Then looked at me.
"The test belongs to another Kingsley."
"Who?"
"Charles."
I stared at him.
"Grant's father?"
Roman nodded.
"Charles Kingsley is infertile."
My mind stopped.
"But he has two sons."
"Apparently not biologically."
A terrible possibility emerged.
If Grant wasn't Charles's biological son, the Kingsley succession rules might collapse.
If Grant himself had fertility problems, Sophie's existence could become even more important.
"What about Grant?"
"We still don't know."
Then my phone rang.
Dr. Harlan.
I answered.
His voice trembled.
"Mrs. Kingsley?"
"It's Hart."
"I'm sorry. I need to speak with you."
"About my records?"
Silence.
"Doctor?"
"I made a mistake."
"No. You made a choice."
Another silence.
"I was pressured."
"By Grant?"
"No."
I looked at Roman.
"By Charles?"
Dr. Harlan began breathing rapidly.
"I shouldn't be calling."
"Then why are you?"
"Because they're going to test the baby."
My blood froze.
"Who?"
"Mrs. Hart, listen to me. Do not allow Kingsley Medical personnel near your daughter."
Roman was already standing.
"Why?"
"Because the result they need isn't whether Grant is the father."
"What result?"
A noise sounded on Harlan's end.
A door opening.
He whispered, "Oh God."
"Doctor?"
Then another voice came through the line.
"Hang up."
Harlan gasped.
The call disconnected.
Thirty seconds later, Roman received a photograph.
Dr. Harlan's office.
Empty chair.
Broken phone.
May you like
And one line from Roman's security team.
HARLAN IS GONE.
