Chapter 12 - THE PATERNITY TEST
“The baby is mine.”
Ryan said it immediately.
Emily did not care.
“You tested my child without telling me.”
“I used a sample from your prenatal screening.”
“How did you get access?”
Ryan looked toward Madison.
Madison shook her head.
“Not me.”
Emily almost laughed.
Everyone had become accustomed to accusing everyone.
Ryan said he received an anonymous message claiming Emily had been having an affair.
He panicked.
He used a private laboratory.
“The result?”
Ryan pushed the paper toward her.
99.98 percent probability.
Ryan was the father.
Grant’s attempt failed.
Emily looked at him.
“You knew that before putting this on the table.”
Grant remained silent.
“You weren’t challenging paternity.”
“No.”
“You wanted me to discover Ryan tested the baby.”
Grant smiled faintly.
“Conflict creates mistakes.”
Emily understood him now.
Grant did not need every attack to win.
He needed people divided.
Madison looked at her father with disgust.
“You sent Ryan the affair message.”
Grant said nothing.
“You wanted him suspicious of Emily.”
Still nothing.
Madison stood.
“You pushed him toward me.”
Grant finally spoke.
“I created an opportunity.”
Ryan laughed bitterly.
“Don’t blame him for that. I made my choice.”
Emily looked at Ryan.
For once, he took responsibility without decoration.
That did not repair anything.
But she noticed.
Arthur entered carrying a box.
“We found the original trust.”
Everyone turned.
Not a copy.
Not an amendment.
The original.
Emily’s grandmother had hidden it inside the county historical archive under her maiden name.
Arthur opened it.
The bloodline clause existed.
But Grant had omitted the next paragraph.
If Emily’s first child survived birth, the mineral trust transferred not to Emily.
Not to Ryan.
To the child.
Held independently until age twenty-five.
Emily stared.
“My baby owns it?”
“Upon birth.”
Grant’s face hardened.
Arthur continued.
“Neither parent can sell, mortgage, or transfer the mineral interest without court approval.”
Madison looked at her father.
“So all of this was pointless.”
“No,” Emily said.
Everyone looked at her.
“It explains the deadline.”
Grant needed the fraudulent transfer completed before the baby was born.
Afterward, a judge would oversee any transaction involving the trust.
Emily placed both hands over her stomach.
For months, she thought they were racing against her.
They were racing against her child.
Then she felt a sharp pain.
She froze.
Ryan saw her expression.
“Emily?”
Another pain.
Stronger.
Water spread across the floor beneath her dress.
Arthur stood.
“Oh, God.”
Emily looked at the calendar.
Four weeks early.
Grant’s face changed.
The deadline had just moved.
May you like
Emily whispered:
“The baby’s coming.”
