Chapter 8 - Liam’s Father
I said nothing.
Dominic continued.
“I thought he was.”
“You thought?”
“Brooke told me.”
I leaned against the kitchen counter.
“And that excuses something?”
“No.”
“Then why are you telling me?”
“Because you think this was all about replacing Leo.”
I looked toward the living room.
Leo was sitting on the couch.
Not the floor.
Dr. Keller had suggested we let him choose where to eat.
Tonight he had chosen the couch beside me.
Progress measured in inches.
“What was it about?”
Dominic exhaled.
“My mother wanted another heir.”
“Leo was already your heir.”
“She said he was damaged.”
My hand tightened around the phone.
“Your mother said that.”
“You listened.”
Dominic went silent.
Then he said something worse.
“She convinced me the company needed stability.”
I laughed bitterly.
“You’re talking about our child like a balance sheet.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“No.”
“You know what it is.”
He continued anyway.
Brooke claimed Liam was Dominic’s son.
Victoria embraced the idea immediately.
A healthy little boy.
A second chance.
A child she could display.
Dominic paid for private paternity testing.
The result showed a 99.9 percent match.
“Then how is he not yours?”
“I repeated the test yesterday.”
“At another lab.”
“Zero percent.”
I understood.
“The first test was fake.”
“Yes.”
“Who arranged it?”
“My mother.”
I closed my eyes.
Victoria had not merely accepted Brooke.
She engineered the lie.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
I did not believe him.
“You always know less when the truth embarrasses you.”
“Clara, please.”
“No.”
“If you want to help yourself, tell Eleanor.”
“I’m not helping you build a defense.”
I hung up.
The next morning, investigators obtained the first paternity report.
The laboratory did not exist.
The address belonged to a mailbox service.
Payment came from Victoria’s private account.
Then we found the connection.
Brooke’s real former boyfriend was a man named Aaron Pike.
He had disappeared from her social media shortly before Liam’s birth.
Aaron had worked at Sterling Meridian.
Finance department.
He was fired three years ago for unauthorized access to company accounts.
Eleanor stared at the record.
“Brooke’s brother has a shell company.”
“Brooke’s former boyfriend worked in finance.”
“And Dominic has 1.7 million dollars missing.”
I looked at her.
“You think the affair was only part of this.”
She nodded.
“I think Brooke entered that house for more than Dominic.”
Then our investigator called.
Aaron Pike had not disappeared.
May you like
He had been receiving monthly payments from Sterling Meridian.
Every payment had been personally approved by Victoria.
