The Test That Said No
Chapter 10 - The Test That Said No
Claire demanded an independent lab.
The judge denied the request for the initial emergency hearing but allowed a second test later if necessary.
Three days passed.
Eli remained with the foster family.
Nora remained in the hospital.
Daniel barely slept.
Claire spent every hour gathering records.
Then the first DNA result arrived.
No biological relationship.
Claire read the page three times.
Daniel snatched it from her.
“This is wrong.”
The report stated that Eli was not biologically related to Claire.
Grant’s lawyers immediately moved to dismiss her claim.
The company board called an emergency meeting.
News leaked.
By noon, headlines described Claire as an emotionally unstable heiress attempting to claim an unrelated child during a corporate merger.
A photograph of Eli outside the hotel appeared online.
Claire was furious.
She was also afraid.
“What if we’re wrong?” she whispered.
Daniel looked at her.
“We’re not.”
“How do you know?”
“Because I knew Adam the second I saw his picture.”
“That isn’t proof.”
“No.”
Daniel leaned forward.
“But this is.”
He placed an envelope on the table.
Inside was a toothbrush sealed in plastic.
Claire stared.
Daniel had gone to the foster home with permission from Denise Parker and spoken to Eli. He had brought the boy lunch.
Eli had used the toothbrush.
Daniel had also submitted his own sample to a separate accredited laboratory.
“If Eli is Adam’s son,” Daniel said, “and Adam was mine, this should show it.”
Claire looked at him.
“You did this without telling me?”
“Yes.”
She should have been angry.
Instead, she almost hugged him.
The independent results would take forty-eight hours.
Grant did not wait.
He called a board vote to remove Claire as chief executive for conduct damaging to the company.
The vote was scheduled for Friday.
Thursday night, Claire visited Nora.
Nora was weaker.
“I should have told you sooner,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
Nora’s eyes filled.
Claire took her hand.
“But you were afraid.”
“Yes.”
“I know something about that.”
Nora gave a faint smile.
Then she asked Claire to open the bottom drawer of the bedside cabinet.
Inside was a small red notebook.
Nora had kept dates.
Payments.
Names.
Every visit Everett had made.
Every call from Grant.
Every threat.
Claire turned the pages.
One entry was dated two days before Adam’s fatal accident.
G.W. came again. Adam refused to sign new papers. Said he would tell Claire everything.
Claire stopped.
“Grant came to see you?”
Nora nodded.
“What papers?”
“A release.”
“For what?”
Nora swallowed.
“The trust.”
Claire understood.
Grant had needed Adam to sign away Eli’s future claim.
Adam refused.
Two days later, his car’s brake line failed.
Claire felt sick.
Then her phone rang.
Daniel.
She answered.
He did not say hello.
“The second DNA test is back.”
Claire stood.
“And?”
Daniel’s voice broke.
May you like
“I’m his great-grandfather.”
The first test had been a lie.
