Chapter 2 - The Woman Who Already Knew
Dante stepped between my bed and the door.
"Stay behind me."
"I just gave birth. I'm not going anywhere."
Despite everything, his mouth almost moved into a smile.
Almost.
Then the door opened.
Eleanor Kingsley walked inside.
Grant's mother had always been beautiful in the terrifying way expensive statues were beautiful. Silver-blonde hair. Perfect posture. Clothes without visible labels because people wealthy enough to recognize them didn't need labels.
She looked at me.
Then Lily.
Her face lost all color.
"My God."
Dante shut the door behind her.
"How did you know?"
Eleanor ignored him.
She walked toward my bed.
I pulled Lily closer.
"Stop."
She stopped.
For the first time in seven years, Eleanor Kingsley obeyed me.
"Claire."
"Answer him."
Her eyes remained fixed on Lily.
"I received a call this morning."
"From whom?"
"I don't know."
Dante laughed without humor.
"You expect us to believe that?"
"A distorted voice. Private number."
"What did they say?"
Eleanor finally looked at him.
"They told me my granddaughter would be born today."
The room seemed to tilt.
"Granddaughter?"
She looked back at Lily.
"They knew it was a girl."
I felt sick.
Nobody outside my doctor, two nurses, Dante, and I had known.
Not even my closest friends.
"They gave me the hospital," Eleanor continued. "The floor. Claire's room number."
Dante's eyes sharpened.
"And you came alone?"
"Yes."
"Your driver?"
"Downstairs."
"Security?"
"Lobby."
"Grant?"
"Getting married."
Her voice cracked on the last word.
I studied her.
"You knew he called me."
"No."
"He called ten minutes ago."
Her eyes narrowed.
"Why?"
"To celebrate."
Something like shame crossed her face.
"Of course he did."
That surprised me.
Eleanor had defended Grant through everything.
Even during the divorce.
Especially during the divorce.
I asked, "Who ordered the DNA comparison?"
"I did."
Dante stepped toward her.
I stared.
"You?"
"I needed certainty."
"You stole my baby's blood?"
"No."
"Then how?"
"I sent Grant's archived medical sample to the hospital laboratory."
"Why would you have his DNA?"
Eleanor hesitated.
Dante noticed.
"So this isn't the first paternity test you've arranged."
She looked at him.
"No."
The word was quiet.
I felt Lily move against me.
"What does that mean?"
Eleanor lowered herself into the chair beside the window.
Suddenly she looked older.
"Grant's father was obsessed with bloodlines."
"I know."
"No, Claire. You know the polished version."
Arthur Kingsley had died four years earlier.
The public remembered him as a visionary.
I remembered him as a man who once asked me at Thanksgiving whether infertility ran in my family.
Eleanor continued.
"Arthur required medical screening before Grant married you."
My stomach tightened.
"What screening?"
"Genetic compatibility. Fertility markers. Family history."
I stared at her.
"Without my consent?"
"Your blood was collected during your engagement physical."
I could barely speak.
"You told me that was for insurance."
"I lied."
Dante's expression became dangerous.
Eleanor looked ashamed.
"The results said Claire was healthy."
I stopped breathing.
"What?"
"Perfectly healthy."
Six months of humiliation collapsed into a single sentence.
I heard Grant again.
Unfortunately, that future wasn't possible.
I whispered, "Then why couldn't I get pregnant?"
Eleanor closed her eyes.
"I don't know."
Dante didn't believe her.
Neither did I.
"Try again," he said.
Eleanor looked at me.
"Arthur believed Grant had to produce an heir. After two years without a pregnancy, Grant underwent testing."
My fingers tightened around Lily's blanket.
"And?"
"His results were normal."
Something about her tone bothered me.
Dante caught it too.
"Normal according to whom?"
Eleanor looked at him.
"Dr. Malcolm Voss."
I knew that name.
Grant's private physician.
The man who had treated me throughout our fertility struggle.
The man who had repeatedly told me the problem was mine.
My heart began pounding.
"What did Voss do?"
Eleanor shook her head.
"I don't know."
"You came here because someone told you about Lily. You secretly ordered a DNA comparison. You clearly suspect something."
She stood.
"I suspect my family has been lied to."
"By whom?"
Before she could answer, Dante's phone rang.
His security chief.
Dante answered.
"What?"
He listened.
His expression hardened.
"When?"
Another pause.
"Keep him there."
He disconnected.
"Dr. Malcolm Voss is downstairs."
Eleanor went rigid.
"Here?"
"He arrived five minutes ago."
I looked between them.
"Why?"
Dante walked toward the window.
"That's what I'd like to know."
Eleanor whispered, "Don't let him near the baby."
The fear in her voice was real.
Dante turned.
"Why?"
She didn't answer.
"Eleanor."
Her eyes filled.
"Because twenty-eight years ago, Malcolm Voss falsified another Kingsley child's medical records."
I stared at her.
"Whose?"
Before she could answer, the hospital monitor beside me beeped.
A message appeared in my patient portal.
LABORATORY RESULT AVAILABLE.
Dante crossed the room.
"Don't open it."
"Why?"
"Because somebody wants us to."
I opened it anyway.
The paternity comparison loaded.
Probability of paternity: 99.99%.
Grant was Lily's father.
I didn't know whether I felt relief or terror.
Then another line appeared.
ADDITIONAL GENETIC RELATIONSHIP DETECTED.
Dante read over my shoulder.
His entire body went still.
"What does that mean?" I asked.
Eleanor stared at the screen.
Then she whispered one word.
"No."
The door opened behind us.
A man in a physician's coat stood there.
Dr. Malcolm Voss.
He looked at Lily.
Then at Dante.
And smiled.
"Well," he said. "Now I understand why Arthur Kingsley was so afraid of you."
Dante turned slowly.
Voss reached into his coat.
May you like
And placed an old photograph on the table.
It showed Arthur Kingsley holding two newborn boys.
