Chapter 10 - THE DAUGHTER ROBERT NEVER CLAIMED
Ashley did not disappear.
She went to Noah’s apartment.
Noah called Emily first.
“She’s here. She’s losing it.”
Robert wanted to go immediately.
Emily stopped him.
“Not alone.”
Vanessa insisted on coming.
When they arrived, Ashley sat at Noah’s small kitchen table with the DNA report in front of her.
She had opened it.
Robert Bennett could not be excluded as biological father.
Probability of paternity: 99.97%.
Ashley looked up.
“Congratulations.”
Robert’s face crumpled.
“Ashley—”
“Don’t call me that like you’re my dad now.”
“I should have known.”
“You did know.”
“I knew there was a possibility.”
“You married my mother and lived with me for five years.”
“I was afraid.”
Ashley laughed.
“Of what?”
Robert looked toward Emily.
Emily understood.
He had been afraid that acknowledging Ashley would destroy what remained of Laura’s memory and his relationship with Emily.
Ashley understood too.
“There it is.”
Robert stepped closer.
“I was wrong.”
“That doesn’t give me back eighteen years.”
“No.”
“It doesn’t give me a childhood where I knew who I was.”
“No.”
Vanessa cried.
“I was trying to protect you.”
Ashley turned on her.
“From my own father?”
“From being rejected.”
“So you rejected me for him.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I loved you.”
“You loved controlling the truth.”
The sentence landed harder than any scream.
Emily felt sympathy for Ashley for the first time.
Then Ashley opened the document box.
Inside were photocopies of Laura’s trust.
Loan documents.
Emily’s ID scan.
And the missing trust amendment.
Robert stared.
“You took it.”
Ashley’s face hardened again.
“Yes.”
Emily asked, “Why?”
“Because it proves you own half the house.”
“We already know that.”
“I didn’t when I found it.”
She looked at Robert.
“I found the note about the sealed letter. Then Mom finally told me about the DNA test.”
Vanessa whispered, “I begged you not to act.”
Ashley ignored her.
“I wanted to know if Laura knew.”
Emily asked, “Did you read the letter?”
Ashley said nothing.
That silence was enough.
“You opened it.”
“Yes.”
Emily’s heart pounded.
“What did my mother say?”
Ashley looked at her with something close to hatred.
“She knew exactly who I was.”
Robert gripped the chair.
“What?”
Ashley pulled a folded photocopy from the box.
“I copied it.”
Emily reached for it.
Ashley pulled it back.
“No.”
“That letter was for me.”
“And my entire life was inside it.”
“Ashley.”
“No.”
She stood.
“If you want the letter, withdraw the fraud accusations.”
David, who had joined by phone, immediately told Emily not to agree.
Ashley smiled bitterly.
“There. Lawyers. Trusts. Property. You always have a system protecting you.”
Emily answered quietly.
“You stole from me.”
Ashley’s eyes flashed.
“I took what I thought I was owed.”
“No. You took what you could reach.”
For the first time, Ashley had no answer.
Then Noah spoke from the doorway.
“You should tell them the rest.”
Ashley turned sharply.
“Shut up.”
Emily looked at Noah.
“What rest?”
Noah swallowed.
“The jewelry wasn’t for debt.”
Vanessa frowned.
“What was it for?”
Noah looked at Ashley.
“She paid for another DNA test.”
Robert stared.
“With who?”
May you like
Noah answered.
“With Emily.”
