Chapter 17 - THE TRUTH ETHAN WANTED BURIED
Luka looked at Ethan.
“What did Vincent do?”
Ethan hesitated.
Richard shouted,
“Say nothing.”
Ethan laughed bitterly.
“You still think you’re in charge?”
He turned toward Luka.
“Your father financed Mercer Medical’s first private maternity wing.”
Luka’s expression changed.
“He invested.”
“He did more than invest.”
Ethan pointed toward the sealed envelope.
“Vincent knew women were being paid to surrender babies.”
Luka shook his head.
“No.”
“He discovered it later.”
“And instead of going to police, he used Richard’s records to blackmail him.”
The ballroom became silent again.
Luka stared at my father.
“Is that true?”
Dad answered carefully.
“Partly.”
“Vincent found out what Richard was doing.”
“He threatened to expose him.”
“But yes.”
“He also demanded money.”
Luka’s jaw tightened.
“So my father wasn’t a hero.”
“No.”
Dad said.
“He was complicated.”
Richard suddenly smiled.
“There.”
“You wanted truth?”
“There it is.”
I looked at him.
“You still stole children.”
His smile vanished.
“You still falsified records.”
“You still ordered Hannah Cole killed.”
“And Ethan still took your money to remain silent.”
Ethan flinched.
I raised the envelope.
“This doesn’t erase what any of you did.”
“It only identifies whose blood you carry.”
Ethan stepped toward me.
“Claire.”
“Please.”
I remembered the hospital.
Emma sleeping against my chest.
Ethan walking away.
Call me when you can think clearly.
I finally understood something.
He had mistaken my love for dependence.
My fear for weakness.
My silence for ignorance.
I broke the seal.
Ethan closed his eyes.
Luka didn’t move.
I unfolded the report.
PATERNITY PROBABILITY.
99.997 PERCENT.
Vincent Moretti was Ethan’s biological father.
Luka’s half brother.
Emma’s biological grandfather.
The revelation spread across the ballroom in seconds.
Reporters shouted questions.
Richard sat down as if his legs had failed.
Ethan stared at nothing.
Luka read the report himself.
Then he looked at Ethan.
“We share blood.”
Ethan gave a hollow laugh.
“Congratulations.”
“No.”
Luka said.
“Blood isn’t the same as family.”
Ethan’s face tightened.
Luka continued.
“Family is what you protect when protecting them costs you something.”
Ethan looked at Emma in my arms.
For the first time since her birth, shame appeared in his eyes.
Then federal agents approached Richard.
They placed him under arrest.
As they led him away, Richard turned toward me.
“This isn’t over.”
I looked down at my daughter.
“For you, it is.”
But Richard smiled.
“No, Claire.”
“Ask your father about File M-19.”
My father went completely still.
May you like
And I knew there was another secret.
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