Chapter 6 - VANESSA’S REAL JOB
Vanessa Shaw was not Daniel’s mistress.
Not originally.
That was another surprise.
She had been assigned to monitor him.
Vale Biomedical no longer trusted Daniel after he married me and stopped reporting regularly.
Vanessa entered his real-estate firm six months earlier.
Then his bed.
Some betrayals were both professional and personal.
Daniel eventually admitted the affair.
No excuses.
Good.
Vanessa disappeared after the hospital.
Federal investigators found her in Boston.
She cooperated quickly.
Preston had ordered the cord-blood theft.
Daniel hesitated.
Vanessa pushed.
Then when I confronted him after birth, he panicked and left with her.
Cowardice again.
But Vanessa knew the third sample.
She refused to say without immunity.
Negotiations took weeks.
Meanwhile DNA testing proceeded independently.
First:
Daniel.
Not Grace’s biological father.
When I received the result, I sat alone for ten minutes.
Daniel had acted as if Grace were his child throughout pregnancy.
Talked to my stomach.
Built a crib.
Then helped strangers manipulate the conception that created her.
Now biologically, he was not her father at all.
Legally?
Complicated.
Emotionally?
Destroyed.
Then Luka’s test.
I couldn't open it.
He came to my apartment.
I had moved into temporary housing under protection.
Grace was six weeks old.
Luka sat opposite me.
“You want me to leave?”
“No.”
I held the envelope.
“What do you want it to say?”
He thought.
“Nothing.”
“That’s impossible.”
“I want Grace to be safe.”
He looked at her sleeping nearby.
“If I’m her father, I’ll deal with that.”
“And if you're not?”
“I'll still help finish what my father started.”
Destroy M-17.
Protect the families.
Truth not ownership.
I opened it.
PATERNITY EXCLUDED.
Luka was not Grace’s biological father.
He stared at the paper.
Then nodded.
No visible disappointment.
But I saw something.
Relief mixed with grief.
He had spent weeks imagining possibility.
Then lost it.
I whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
“Don't be.”
He looked at Grace.
“She doesn't owe me DNA.”
That sentence stayed with me.
Then only the third candidate remained.
The sealed envelope.
Executive authorization.
I still refused to open it.
Daniel learned Luka was excluded.
He called me from his attorney’s office.
“You tested him.”
“Yes.”
“Don't open the last one.”
“Why?”
“Please.”
The word shocked me.
Daniel never begged.
“Tell me who it is.”
“I can't.”
“Then I open it.”
“Evelyn.”
His voice cracked.
“If you open it, Preston will come after Grace harder than ever.”
My heart stopped.
Preston.
Not Arthur.
The son.
I suddenly understood.
“You mean the third sample is Preston Vale.”
Silence.
“Daniel?”
He started crying.
“Don't open it.”
I hung up.
Then called Rachel.
“Get the final DNA test done.”
She paused.
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
May you like
No more protecting men from truth.
---
