Chapter 6: The Bloodline Lie
I couldn't stop staring at the photograph.
The words were written in thick black paint.
ASK YOUR WIFE.
Dominic stood beside the table, his face pale and unreadable.
Marcus was holding my hand.
He didn't understand what was happening.
He only knew that the adults around him had stopped smiling.
"Mommy?""
I looked down.
"Yes, sweetheart?""
"Are we going home?""
I forced a smile.
"We're already home.""
"Then why is everyone scared?""
I kissed his forehead.
"Because grown-ups sometimes have difficult things to figure out.""
Marcus looked toward Dominic.
"Daddy can hear now. He can figure it out.""
Dominic crouched.
"You're right, buddy.""
He touched Marcus's cheek.
"Daddy can figure it out.""
But when he stood, his expression hardened again.
"James, get the security team together. Nobody leaves this property.""
James nodded.
"And contact the police?""
"Not yet.""
Margaret frowned.
"Dominic, you need to involve the authorities.""
"Which authorities?"" he asked coldly.
"The ones who accepted the original accident report? The ones who approved the medical records? The ones who never questioned why a healthy man suddenly lost his hearing?""
Margaret lowered her eyes.
Dominic turned toward me.
"We're going upstairs.""
I knew what he wanted.
An explanation.
The truth about Marcus.
And perhaps something much worse.
I followed him into his study.
He closed the door behind us.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Then he placed the photograph on his desk.
"Tell me everything.""
I folded my arms across my chest.
"I have told you everything.""
"Did you have an affair?""
The question struck harder than a slap.
I stared at him.
"Excuse me?""
"Did you sleep with someone else before Marcus was born?""
"No.""
"Think carefully.""
"Dominic, I was faithful to you.""
He looked away.
"Then why did Voss test our son's blood?""
"I don't know!""
My voice broke.
"I don't know why my father would do this. I don't know why he would falsify documents. I don't know why he would destroy your hearing. But I know who I married, and I know I never betrayed you.""
Dominic's expression softened slightly.
He sat on the edge of his desk.
"I want to believe you.""
I stepped closer.
"Then believe me.""
He rubbed his face.
"I'm trying.""
I sat beside him.
"Do you remember the month before Marcus was born?""
Dominic nodded.
"You were working in Chicago.""
"Yes. And I had complications during the pregnancy. My father arranged for me to see a specialist.""
Dominic looked at me.
"Which specialist?""
"Dr. Voss.""
His eyes narrowed.
"What?""
"My father told me he was one of the best obstetric consultants in the country. I had no reason to question it.""
Dominic stood.
"Did Voss perform any procedures?""
"No. He reviewed my scans and blood tests. He said everything was normal.""
"Did he ever ask you to sign anything?""
I thought carefully.
"One consent form. Something about genetic screening.""
Dominic looked at the desk.
"Did you keep a copy?""
"I don't know.""
He turned toward me.
"Eleanor, we need to find it.""
Before I could answer, someone knocked.
James entered carrying a sealed envelope.
"Sir, this arrived from the police.""
Dominic opened it.
Inside was a handwritten note.
*The doctor was not killed because he knew your secret. He was killed because he was about to tell you who paid for the second DNA test.*
There was a second line.
*The original result is in the basement of the old Bennett clinic.*
I recognized the address immediately.
My father's first private hospital.
It had closed two years earlier after a financial scandal.
Dominic read the note again.
"Who delivered this?""
"An officer found it in the reception area.""
"Any cameras?""
James nodded.
He handed Dominic a tablet.
The security footage showed a woman entering the building.
She wore a dark coat and a baseball cap.
But when she turned toward the camera, her face was visible.
I gasped.
"Olivia.""
Dominic looked at me.
"Your father's attorney?""
I nodded.
"She's the one who called me.""
James enlarged the image.
"There's something else.""
The footage showed Olivia leaving the envelope and looking directly at the camera.
Then she raised her hand.
She was holding a key.
Dominic stared at the screen.
"Get the car.""
James hesitated.
"Sir, we don't know whether this is a trap.""
"It probably is.""
"Then I recommend we wait for additional security.""
Dominic looked toward the photograph of Dr. Voss.
"We've waited three years.""
He turned to me.
"You're staying here.""
I shook my head.
"No.""
"Eleanor.""
"My father is involved. The documents concern me. I'm coming.""
"This isn't a negotiation.""
"Neither is this.""
We stared at each other.
Then Dominic sighed.
"Fine. But you stay beside me.""
We left Marcus with Margaret and two armed guards.
As I kissed his forehead, he whispered something.
"Mommy?""
"Yes?""
"Tell Daddy I love his new voice.""
I smiled.
"I will.""
Dominic heard him.
He bent down and kissed our son's hair.
"I love you too.""
The old Bennett clinic stood in a quiet industrial district outside the city.
Its windows were boarded up, its sign had been removed, and weeds had grown through cracks in the parking lot.
James led us through a side entrance.
The building smelled of dust, damp plaster, and old disinfectant.
We followed the corridor toward the basement.
At the bottom of the stairs, a heavy metal door stood slightly open.
Dominic pushed it.
Inside was a small archive room filled with filing cabinets.
A desk lamp was already switched on.
Someone had been there recently.
I approached the desk.
A folder lay open.
My name was written across the cover.
*ELEANOR BENNETT HALE — GENETIC SCREENING.*
My fingers trembled as I opened it.
The first page contained my blood test results.
The second contained Marcus's.
The third was a laboratory comparison.
I read the first paragraph.
Then I read it again.
My knees nearly gave way.
Dominic caught my arm.
"What?""
I couldn't speak.
He took the paper.
His eyes moved across the page.
The report stated that Marcus was biologically related to Dominic Hale.
The probability was 99.9998 percent.
Dominic exhaled.
For one brief moment, relief crossed his face.
Then he turned the page.
There was another test.
A second sample had been collected from Marcus eleven months later.
The result was different.
According to that report, Marcus had no biological relationship to Dominic.
I stared at the document.
"That's impossible.""
Dominic looked at the dates.
"Someone switched the samples.""
"Or altered the results.""
James approached.
"Sir, there's a computer terminal in the corner.""
Dominic moved toward it.
The screen was still active.
A file was open.
It contained scanned medical records, transfer instructions, and an audio recording.
Dominic clicked play.
My father's voice filled the basement.
"Dr. Voss, I want the original test destroyed.""
The doctor answered.
"Richard, the first result was conclusive. The boy is Dominic's biological son.""
"I don't care what the first result says. I need a report that gives me control of the trust.""
"That is fraud.""
A brief silence followed.
Then my father spoke again.
"Do you want to keep your clinic?""
The recording ended.
I felt sick.
My father had known Marcus was Dominic's son.
He had fabricated the second test to create doubt.
But why?
Dominic continued scrolling.
A document appeared.
It was a list of payments made to a private laboratory.
Beside each payment was a reference number.
The final payment was dated three weeks earlier.
And the recipient wasn't Dr. Voss.
It was an account registered under my name.
I stared at it.
"No.""
Dominic looked over.
"What?""
I pointed to the screen.
"That's not my account.""
James leaned closer.
"Mrs. Hale, the account was opened using your identification.""
"That's impossible.""
Dominic clicked the transaction details.
A photograph appeared.
It showed me sitting at a desk, signing a document.
My hair was shorter.
My face was thinner.
I was wearing the same blue dress I had worn during Marcus's hospital admission eleven months earlier.
But I didn't remember being photographed.
I leaned closer.
Then I noticed something.
The woman in the photograph had a small scar on her left wrist.
I looked down at my own wrist.
No scar.
I shook my head.
"That's not me.""
Dominic enlarged the image.
James stepped closer.
"Sir, I think I know what this is.""
He pointed to the woman's face.
"Digital identity replacement. Someone used Mrs. Hale's photographs to create a false authorization.""
Dominic stared at the screen.
"Who had access to her identification?""
I felt a terrible realization settle over me.
"My father.""
Then the computer chimed.
A new message appeared.
*REMOTE ACCESS ESTABLISHED.*
James reached for the keyboard.
"Someone is inside the system.""
The screen flickered.
A video window opened.
Richard Bennett appeared.
He was sitting in his office, wearing a dark suit.
He looked directly into the camera.
"Eleanor.""
My breath stopped.
"Father?""
He smiled sadly.
"You're not supposed to be there.""
Dominic stepped toward the screen.
"Richard.""
My father looked at him.
For the first time, he heard Dominic's voice without a telephone between them.
His smile vanished.
"You're making a terrible mistake.""
Dominic leaned closer.
"Where is Victor?""
Richard adjusted his cuff.
"Victor is no longer your problem.""
"Where is he?""
My father ignored him.
Instead, he looked directly at me.
"Eleanor, I need you to listen carefully. Everything I did was to protect you.""
I shook my head.
"Protect me from what?""
His expression became serious.
"From the truth about your mother.""
I froze.
My mother had died when I was twelve.
A car accident.
A closed investigation.
A funeral I barely remembered.
"What does my mother have to do with this?""
Richard leaned toward the camera.
"Because the woman who raised you wasn't your biological mother.""
The room went silent.
I felt Dominic's hand close around mine.
My father continued.
"And the woman who gave birth to you is the reason Dominic lost his hearing.""
Then the screen went black.
A second later, every light in the basement went out.
James shouted.
"Everyone down!""
Something shattered above us.
Dominic pulled me against him.
Then I heard the metallic click of a gun being cocked.
And a voice emerged from the darkness.
"Mr. Hale, step away from your wife.""
It was Victor.
May you like
But the next words he spoke were meant for me.
"Mrs. Hale, your father wants you alive. Your husband, unfortunately, is no longer part of the arrangement.""
