Chapter 3 - The Four-Year Lie
The silence in the hallway was deafening.
"What did you just say?" Marcus asked, his voice dropping to a dangerous, deadly whisper.
"I'm looking at a paternity test uploaded to our hospital's secure server four years ago, shortly after Leo's first birthday," the doctor explained, turning the tablet to show us. "It clearly states that there is a zero percent chance you are the biological father. The file was flagged for internal records."
I felt the room spin. "That's a lie!" I shouted, the sheer absurdity of it cutting through my panic. "Marcus is the only man I have ever been with! That test is a complete fabrication!"
Marcus looked at me, and I saw a fleeting second of doubt in his eyes, but it was instantly replaced by absolute fury. Not at me. At the name listed at the bottom of the electronic document under 'Requested By'.
Eleanor Vance - Board of Directors.
"My mother is on the executive board of this hospital," Marcus growled, pointing at the screen. "She had the clearance to upload that. She forged a paternity test."
"But why?" I sobbed, clutching my head. "Why would she go through all of this? Why would she poison him today?"
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"Because of the trust," a new voice echoed down the hall. We turned to see Thomas, the Vance family’s longtime estate lawyer, walking toward us with a heavy briefcase. He looked exhausted.
"I came as soon as I heard what happened on the family grapevine," Thomas said, adjusting his glasses. "Marcus, there is something you need to know. Something your mother has been trying to hide since the day Leo was born."
