Chapter 5 - Charles Ordered the Secret DNA Test
Charles had secretly obtained genetic material from Claire’s unborn
child through medical records he should never have accessed.
The surviving documents did not establish exactly how every sample was
obtained, and investigators refused to speculate.
But Charles commissioned a paternity comparison.
The named man was Jonathan Vale.
Daniel knew him.
Jonathan had been Charles’s young business partner.
He died ten years earlier.
The report excluded Jonathan.
Claire believed Charles was testing men without her consent because he
wanted leverage.
Then Charles ordered a second comparison.
The name was hidden on the surviving copy.
Only initials remained.
R.W.
Daniel knew one possibility.
Robert Whitmore.
Their uncle.
That made no sense.
Vanessa insisted the initials referred to someone else.
Claire had discovered Charles was not merely investigating paternity.
He was investigating inheritance.
The Whitmore family trust contained an unusual provision: a direct
biological grandchild of Charles could eventually control a voting block
in Whitmore Holdings.
If Claire’s child had a father tied to a rival family trust, ownership
could become complicated.
Daniel felt disgusted.
“A baby wasn’t even born and Dad was treating her like a transaction.”
Vanessa nodded.
Claire stole the report from Charles’s safe.
Then she disappeared.
But the report was not in the archive.
Someone else had taken it.
Lily, listening from Claire’s side with a child advocate present,
suddenly remembered something.
“The picture lady had writing on the back.”
Daniel looked at the pregnancy photograph.
Beneath the date, almost hidden under old tape, Claire had written:
IF I DON’T COME BACK, ASK RYAN WHAT HE DID AT THE BOATHOUSE.
Daniel’s stomach dropped.
May you like
Ryan Whitmore was their cousin.
And he was standing in the ballroom downstairs.
