Chapter 5 - THE FIRST DNA TEST
Leah met Julian the following morning inside the office of an independent family attorney.
She refused to meet at the Halcyon.
She refused to use a Mercer attorney.
Julian agreed to both conditions.
He arrived alone.
No assistant.
No security officer.
No Eleanor.
Leah placed copies of Claire’s documents on the table.
Julian read the forged letter first.
His face changed when he reached the signature.
“This came from a contract I signed for my father.”
“The signature was copied.”
Leah showed him the travel records Claire had discovered.
Julian had been in London when the letter was dated.
He looked toward the window.
“I waited for Claire at the lake house.”
“Eleanor told me she refused to come.”
“My mother waited for you at the train station,” Leah said.
“She thought you had sent lawyers after her.”
Julian closed his eyes.
Two people had waited in different places while Eleanor controlled every message between them.
Leah opened the hospital file.
“Did you ever see a death certificate?”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Eleanor said the hospital protected Claire’s privacy.”
“And you accepted that?”
Julian looked at her.
“I was twenty-nine.”
“I had just taken control of the hotel company after my father’s stroke.”
“I trusted my sister.”
“That is an explanation.”
“It is not a defense.”
The answer softened something inside Leah that she did not want softened yet.
The attorney entered with DNA-testing forms.
Leah read every page.
The test would be handled by an independent laboratory.
Results would remain confidential unless both parties agreed otherwise.
Julian signed first.
Leah signed after him.
A nurse collected their samples.
The process took less than ten minutes.
Twenty-eight years of uncertainty entered two sealed envelopes.
After the nurse left, Julian removed a photograph from his wallet.
It showed Claire laughing beside a flower market.
“She hated photographs,” Leah said.
“She hated posed photographs.”
“She loved being caught laughing.”
Leah looked at the image.
Her mother appeared young enough to believe that love would be simple.
Julian placed the photograph on the table.
“I do not expect you to call me your father.”
“I do not expect you to forgive me.”
“You did not create the forged letter.”
“No.”
“But I allowed my family to control what I believed.”
“That failure belongs to me.”
Leah studied him.
“Why did Eleanor tell the guests I stole the bracelet?”
“I do not know yet.”
“She recognized the brooch.”
Julian looked at the pale-green leaves pinned to Leah’s blouse.
“I gave that to Claire.”
“On the night I asked her to marry me.”
Leah’s breath caught.
“She never told me.”
“I never gave her a ring.”
“I thought the brooch was less predictable.”
Leah touched it carefully.
For her entire life, the brooch had represented her mother.
Now it also carried a proposal that never became a wedding.
Julian stood.
“I will wait for the result.”
Leah remained seated.
“You are not going to investigate Eleanor?”
“I already started.”
“Without me?”
Julian paused.
“You should decide how involved you want to be.”
Leah looked at Claire’s box.
“I want every record.”
“Not summaries.”
“Not protected versions.”
“Everything.”
May you like
Julian nodded.
“Everything.”
