Chapter 7: The Blood Test
“Lucas isn't Victor's son.””
The words hung in the corridor while the cardiac team fought to keep Victor alive.
Melissa heard them.
Her face changed first.
Then Thomas's.
Ethan looked at me as if I'd just told him the floor beneath us had disappeared.
“No,” Melissa whispered.
Thomas turned toward her.
“Did you know?””
She didn't answer.
“Melissa,” Thomas said, his voice suddenly hard, “did you know?””
She took one step backward.
Lucas stared at her.
“Mom?””
She grabbed his shoulders.
“Don't listen to them.””
Ethan stepped between them.
“You heard Dad.””
Melissa's eyes flashed.
“Your father is dying. He doesn't know what he's saying.””
Thomas looked at her.
“He knew exactly what he was saying.””
“You weren't there,” she snapped.
“I was there for the part where he spent fourteen years lying.””
Melissa's expression twisted.
“You have no idea what he promised me.””
Thomas gave a cold laugh.
“That may be the only honest thing you've said tonight.””
A nurse shoved through the ICU doors.
“Family needs to step away.””
I looked through the glass.
Victor's chest was moving beneath the blanket while doctors pressed against him.
The monitor was no longer flat.
A weak rhythm returned.
Ethan grabbed my hand.
“Mom, what does this mean?””
I looked at Melissa.
She wouldn't meet my eyes.
Then I looked at Lucas.
He was twelve years old, frightened, and completely unaware that the adults around him had built his entire childhood on a lie.
I couldn't bring myself to hate him.
“Ethan,” I said quietly, “we need proof.””
Melissa heard me.
“Proof of what?””
“The truth.””
Her voice broke.
“You're trying to destroy my son.””
“No.””
I looked directly at her.
“I'm trying to find out who his father is.””
She pulled Lucas closer.
“You have no right.””
“I have every right to know what my husband has been hiding.””
“Your husband is not your property.””
The words came out so quickly that I almost admired them.
Then Daniel walked toward us.
“Enough.””
He looked at Melissa.
“Mrs. Cruz, I'm going to ask you to wait in the family room.””
She stared at him.
“Why?””
“Because I need statements from everyone.””
Her face went pale.
“Statements?””
Daniel nodded.
“About the estate.””
Thomas folded his arms.
“More importantly, about the transfers.””
Melissa suddenly looked at the elevator.
I noticed.
So did Thomas.
He stepped into her path.
“You're not leaving.””
She stopped.
“Move.””
“No.””
“Who are you to stop me?””
Thomas leaned closer.
“You know exactly who I am.””
She stared at him.
Then her eyes dropped.
Thomas said quietly, “You should have told Victor the truth fourteen years ago.””
Melissa's face went completely white.
Ethan heard him.
“Fourteen years?””
Melissa looked at me.
“Please.””
The plea was so soft that it almost sounded sincere.
“Please don't do this here.””
I looked at Lucas.
“Take him somewhere quiet.””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Your son doesn't need to hear this.””
Melissa's eyes filled with tears.
“He's not your son.””
I didn't react.
She realized what she'd said.
Nobody spoke.
Lucas looked up at her.
“What did you mean?””
Melissa's mouth opened.
Nothing came out.
Then the ICU doors opened.
A doctor stepped into the hall.
“We have a pulse.””
Everyone exhaled.
“But he's critical.””
I asked, “Can he speak?””
“Not yet.””
Daniel stepped toward the doctor.
“Will he survive?””
The doctor hesitated.
“We don't know.””
Thomas looked at me.
“The lake house.””
I nodded.
“We go now.””
Daniel stopped me.
“Absolutely not.””
I turned.
“Why?””
“You're not thinking clearly.””
“My husband just told me the child he gave eight properties to isn't his.””
“You need sleep.””
“I need answers.””
Daniel lowered his voice.
“The property records may become evidence.””
“Exactly.””
“You can't just enter.””
“I own it.””
Daniel stared at me.
“You haven't checked.””
I smiled faintly.
“That's why we're going.””
Thomas nodded.
Ethan stepped forward.
“I'm coming.””
I looked at him.
“This time, yes.””
Melissa suddenly pushed through the group.
“No.””
Everyone turned.
She pointed at Thomas.
“He wants you to go there.””
“Why?””
“Because that's where he kept the old files.””
Thomas's face hardened.
“You've been there.””
It wasn't a question.
Melissa looked at him.
“Yes.””
“When?””
“Last year.””
“Why?””
She swallowed.
“Victor sent me.””
“What did you take?””
“Nothing.””
Thomas didn't believe her.
Neither did I.
I asked, “Why did Victor send you to the lake house?””
Melissa looked at me.
“He told me to find a blue box.””
My heart stopped.
“What was in it?””
She shook her head.
“I don't know.””
Thomas said, “You opened it.””
“No.””
“You're lying.””
“I swear.””
I looked at her handbag.
“What's inside your bag?””
She stepped back.
“My things.””
I held out my hand.
“Give it to me.””
“No.””
“Then the police can search it.””
She stared at me.
For several seconds, neither of us moved.
Finally, she slowly handed me the handbag.
I opened it.
Lipstick.
Wallet.
Phone.
A folded scarf.
Keys.
And beneath them, a small blue envelope.
My fingers went cold.
Thomas saw it.
“That's from the box.””
Melissa closed her eyes.
“I didn't know what it was.””
I opened the envelope.
Inside was a photograph.
Not of Melissa.
Not of Victor.
A newborn baby.
A hospital bracelet was attached to the corner.
The name was blurred by age.
But the date was clear.
December 14.
Fourteen years ago.
Ethan leaned over my shoulder.
“That was before Lucas was born.””
I looked at Melissa.
She was crying now.
“The baby in that picture,” I said, “is Lucas.””
Melissa said nothing.
Thomas took the photograph.
His eyes narrowed.
“That bracelet number.””
“What?””
“I recognize it.””
“From where?””
He looked at me.
“St. Mary's.””
I remembered.
That was the hospital where my father had died.
The same hospital where I had been told my mother suffered a miscarriage years earlier.
The same hospital where Victor had once claimed he had no connection whatsoever.
The pieces moved together with horrifying speed.
I looked at Melissa.
“You gave birth to Lucas at St. Mary's?””
She shook her head.
“No.””
“Then who did?””
She whispered, “I didn't.””
My stomach dropped.
Thomas took a step toward her.
“Tell the truth.””
Melissa broke.
“She was dying.””
“Who?””
“His mother.””
“Whose mother?””
Lucas's.
Melissa covered her face.
“Victor found me in the maternity ward.””
I stared at her.
“Why?””
“He needed someone to raise the baby.””
Ethan frowned.
“Why?””
Melissa lowered her hands.
“Because the woman who gave birth to him was never supposed to leave that hospital.””
Silence.
Thomas looked stunned.
I could barely breathe.
“Who was she?””
Melissa's lips trembled.
“Your father's secretary.””
My blood ran cold.
“Anne?””
She nodded.
I remembered Anne.
A quiet woman who had worked for my father for nearly ten years.
She disappeared shortly before his death.
Victor had told me she stole money and ran.
She had left behind a baby.
Or so I had always been told.
I looked at the photograph again.
The tiny face.
The hospital bracelet.
Fourteen years ago.
My father's death.
Victor's secret account.
The trust.
The lake house.
Lucas.
All of it.
I turned to Thomas.
“Is Lucas my father's grandson?””
Thomas didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he looked at the photograph.
Then at Ethan.
Then at me.
“That's what we need to find out.””
Melissa whispered, “Victor knows.””
I looked at her.
“How?””
“He paid for the DNA test.””
“When?””
“Fourteen years ago.””
My heart pounded.
“And?””
She shook her head.
“He wasn't the father.””
“Then who was?””
“I don't know.””
Thomas suddenly looked toward the elevator.
“We have to leave.””
“Why?””
“Because we're not the only ones looking for the lake-house records.””
As if summoned by his words, the hospital lights flickered.
Once.
Twice.
Then the entire corridor went dark.
Someone screamed.
Emergency lights flashed red.
A security alarm began ringing at the far end of the floor.
Daniel shouted, “Stay together!””
My hand found Ethan's.
Thomas grabbed the blue envelope.
Then I heard footsteps.
Fast.
Coming toward us through the darkness.
A man's voice spoke from somewhere beyond the red emergency lights.
“Claire.””
I froze.
I knew that voice.
Not from fourteen years ago.
From the present.
I turned toward the sound.
A figure stepped into the emergency lighting.
He was holding a gun.
May you like
And he said,
“Don't go to the lake house. The truth is buried there with your father.””
