Chapter 3 - The DNA Deception
Back in the grand foyer of the Phoenix estate, the silence following my voice on the speakerphone was deafening.
Christopher looked at the phone in his mother’s hand, then at Michelle, whose face had gone from pale to a ghastly, translucent white.
“What is she talking about?” Christopher demanded, his voice cracking with rising panic. “Michelle, what is Victoria talking about? What clinic in Tucson?”
Michelle tried to step toward him, her hands trembling as she reached for his arm. “Christopher, darling, listen to me. Victoria is lying. She’s jealous! She’s trying to ruin our happiness because she lost! She’s using your mother to turn you against me!”
Evelyn didn't say a word. She walked past Michelle, stepped into her private study adjoining the foyer, and returned holding a sleek black leather case. Inside were two medical-grade buccal swab kits.
“If you have nothing to hide, Michelle,” Evelyn said, her voice like grinding stones, “you will allow me to swab the children right now. My private lab in Scottsdale will have the comparative genetic sequencing completed by midnight.”
“No!” Michelle yelled, her composure finally breaking. She lunged forward, throwing her arms over the double stroller as if protecting the babies from a predator. “You have no right! These are my children! Christopher’s children! I won't let you treat us like criminals in your house!”
Christopher stood frozen in the middle of the room. He looked at Michelle’s hysterical reaction, then at his mother’s unyielding face, and finally down at the little boy sleeping under the blue blanket.
For the first time in his life, the fog of his own arrogance began to clear, revealing a terrifying truth he had refused to see.
“Michelle,” Christopher said, his voice barely a whisper. “Why won't you let her test them?”
“Because it’s insulting!” Michelle cried, tears streaming down her face, ruining her carefully applied makeup. “I gave you what Victoria couldn't! I gave you twins! A boy and a girl! I built a family for you, Christopher! How can you stand there and let your mother and your bitter ex-wife strip that away from us?”
Evelyn didn't waste another second arguing. She raised her phone to her ear again. “Silas.”
Two seconds later, the side doors of the foyer opened, and two tall, muscular men in dark suits—Evelyn’s private security detail—stepped into the room.
“Take the stroller to the guest suite upstairs,” Evelyn ordered calmly. “Ensure Miss Vance is offered a seat in the sitting room. She will not leave this property until the lab results return.”
“You can't detain me!” Michelle screamed as the security guard stepped past her and smoothly wheeled the stroller toward the elevator. “Christopher! Do something! Tell them!”
Christopher didn't move. He stared at his hands—the hands that had signed away his company’s shares to me thirty-six hours ago, believing he was trading paper wealth for a glorious new bloodline.
“Christopher...” Michelle sobbed as the second guard firmly escorted her toward the sitting room. “Please!”
When the foyer was empty again, leaving only Evelyn and Christopher standing beneath the grand chandelier, Evelyn walked over to her son.
She reached up and slapped him across the face with a loud, stinging crack that echoed off the high marble walls.
Christopher didn't flinch. He just took the hit, his head turned to the side, his eyes hollow.
“You fool,” Evelyn spat, her eyes filled with tears of rage. “You traded a brilliant, loyal woman who rebuilt your father’s legacy for a street parasite who brought a ghost into my house.”
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“Mother...” Christopher choked out, clutching his cheek. “Is it true? Is Ethan... is he Julian’s?”
Evelyn turned her back on him, walking toward the grand staircase. “Pray that he isn't, Christopher. Because if that child belongs to your brother, it means Michelle didn't just deceive you. It means she was placed in your life to strip Vextor Dynamics of every cent it has left.”
