Chapter 2 - THE BABY WAS NOT THE FIRST SECRET
The first thing Ethan wanted was an answer.
Not a lawyer.
Not a test.
Not an explanation of office politics.
One answer.
“Whose baby?”
Rebecca stood near the bed, crying so hard she could barely breathe.
Charles opened his mouth.
Claire answered before either of them.
“That’s why I came.”
Ethan turned.
Claire walked over and picked up one of the papers that had fallen from Rebecca’s purse.
A prenatal appointment printout.
Then another.
A laboratory requisition.
Then a folded document marked:
CONFIDENTIAL PATERNITY SCREENING.
Ethan stared.
“You already knew?”
Claire looked at him.
“I knew she was pregnant.”
Rebecca covered her face.
“I was going to tell you.”
Ethan almost laughed.
“When?”
“Soon.”
“Before or after you figured out which man should sign the birth certificate?”
Rebecca flinched.
Charles stepped in.
“Ethan, enough.”
Ethan moved so fast Charles stumbled backward.
“Do not tell me what is enough in my house.”
Claire placed a hand between them.
Not to protect Charles.
To stop Ethan from doing something he would regret.
“We need facts,” she said.
Her voice was calm.
Controlled.
“Not guesses.”
Ethan looked at the paternity form again.
The test had not been completed.
No result.
Only an order.
Rebecca whispered:
“I don’t know who the father is.”
The sentence destroyed the last illusion in the room.
Ethan looked at her.
She nodded through tears.
“The timing overlaps.”
Claire closed her eyes.
Charles turned away.
Ethan stared at the ultrasound.
Then saw something else among the fallen papers.
A wire-transfer confirmation.
Whitmore Strategic Holdings.
$850,000.
Beneficiary:
R.C. Consulting LLC.
Ethan looked up.
“Rebecca.”
She went still.
“What is R.C. Consulting?”
May you like
Charles looked at her sharply.
That was the second secret.
