Chapter 4 - The DNA of DeceitWeston didn't confront Camille immediately. He couldn't. If he blew up now, his father would simply destroy him, strip him of his shares, and leave him with nothing. He needed proof.
That night, while Camille slept soundly in her silk sheets, Weston crept into Leo’s bathroom. With trembling hands, he collected several strands of hair from the boy’s silver hairbrush. He took one of his own hairs, and, pushing down the bile rising in his throat, he went into his father’s study and found a discarded cigar with enough saliva to provide a sample.
He drove to an independent, out-of-state laboratory at 3:00 AM, paying an exorbitant fee in cash for expedited, confidential results.
Seventy-two hours later, the email arrived.
Weston sat in his darkened office, the glow of the laptop screen illuminating his pale, drawn face.
Probability of Paternity (Weston Callaway / Leo Russo): 0.00% Probability of Paternity (Preston Callaway / Leo Russo): 99.9%
A low, guttural sob tore from Weston’s throat. He buried his face in his hands. He had sacrificed the only woman who had ever loved him for nothing. He had abandoned his own flesh and blood for a bastard child conceived in a profound betrayal between his own father and his assistant.
He remembered Sable’s face in the hospital. The soft, pitying smile. “Remember this moment. Because it’s the last one you’ll ever get from us.”
She knew. Somehow, she had known the rot within his family, and she had saved herself.
While Weston spiraled into a dark abyss of paranoia and rage, miles away in a sleek, ultra-modern penthouse in Manhattan, Sable Reed—now known in the corporate world as S.R. Sterling, managing partner of Vanguard Acquisitions—was reviewing a dossier.
A sharp, confident smile played on her lips. She looked at a photograph of her vibrant, brilliant three-year-old daughter, Mara, playing in Central Park. Then, she looked back at the financial charts of Callaway Holdings.
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The company was hemorrhaging cash. Their stock had plummeted. They were ripe for a hostile takeover.
Sable picked up her phone and dialed her lead attorney. "It's time. Initiate the buyout sequence for Callaway Holdings. Let's put them out of their misery."
