Chapter 5 - The Test Results
The next morning sunlight poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the guest suite, casting bright golden squares across the plush Persian rug.
I hadn't slept well. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw my mother’s handwriting in the old journal, heard the echoes of Caroline’s tragic story, and felt the terrifying reality of what the DNA test confirmed.
I sat at the edge of the king-sized bed, staring at the glowing screen of my phone where the PDF file from Genesis Lab was still open.
99.99%.
There was no escaping it. No mathematical doubt, no clerical error, no coincidence of eye color.
A soft knock came at the double doors of the suite.
“Come in,” I called out.
The door opened, and Richard stepped inside. He was dressed impeccably in a charcoal suit, though he looked like he hadn't slept much either. Dark circles bruised the skin beneath his gray-and-amber eyes.
He didn't need to ask. One look at my face told him everything he needed to know.
“You got the results,” he said quietly, closing the door behind him.
“I did,” I replied, turning my phone face up on the nightstand. “99.99 percent. Uncle Richard.”
The title rolled off my tongue with a strange, foreign irony.
Richard let out a long breath, walking over to the window and looking out across the sprawling gardens. For a moment, he looked older than fifty-nine—he looked like a man carrying the accumulated ghosts of a family torn apart by pride and cruelty.
“I am sorry,” he said without turning around.
“For what?”
“For what you’ve been dragged into,” Richard said. “For the life Margaret had to live in the shadows, hiding from my father. And for the reality you’re now facing. You built a quiet, honest life, Hannah. And in less than forty-eight hours, I’ve upended every single brick of it.”
I stood up from the bed, walking over to stand beside him at the window. Down below, Sophie was out on the lawn, safely playing tag with one of the estate gardeners’ golden retrievers while Mrs. Higgins watched from a stone bench.
“My mother gave me a good life,” I said softly. “She taught me how to work hard, how to be kind, and how to stand on my own two feet. Even if her origin story was a fabrication, the love she gave me was real. That’s something your family’s money couldn't buy.”
Richard finally turned his head to look at me, a deep, appreciative warmth in his eyes. “She raised a remarkable daughter. Caroline would have been very proud of you.”
“So what happens now?” I asked, cutting straight to the point. “Do we frame the DNA test and hang it in the hallway? Do I pack my bags and pretend this never happened?”
“You know you can’t pretend this never happened,” Richard said grimly. “Once the lab processed those samples, the encrypted markers were logged into our private family registry database. My brother, Julian, receives automated security alerts whenever new high-level profiles are added to the registry.”
My blood ran cold. “Julian knows?”
“He knows a new bloodline match was verified at midnight,” Richard said, his voice tightening. “He doesn't know who it is yet, because I encrypted your file under a restricted corporate firewall. But Julian isn't stupid. He has investigators on retainer who monitor every fluctuation in our family tree.”
“So we’re under a clock.”
“Exactly.” Richard turned to face me fully, placing a hand gently on my shoulder. “Julian has spent the last ten years consolidating power at Vale Development. He believes the entire estate, the board seats, and the philanthropic trusts are his alone to command. If he finds out that Caroline had a child—a direct heir who outranks him in the primary line of succession—he will do everything in his power to discredit you, marginalize you, or push you out before you even know what you own.”
“I told you, Richard, I don't want his board seats!”
“It doesn't matter what you want, Hannah,” Richard said sharply, though his tone remained kind. “In Julian’s world, a new heir isn't a family member; it’s a threat to his empire. And if he perceives you as a threat, he will come after you. Which means we have to make the first move.”
May you like
“What kind of first move?”
“We bring you into the light,” Richard said, his eyes hardening with steely resolve. “On your terms, with my full backing and protection. We go to the corporate headquarters on Monday morning, walk into the executive board meeting, and introduce the board of directors to the true granddaughter of Arthur Vale.”
