Chapter 9 - THE DAUGHTER MARCUS HID
Layla felt as though the room had tilted.
Marcus Gallow had fathered her during an affair with Samuel’s wife.
Samuel discovered the truth only after Layla was born.
He raised her anyway.
He protected her from Marcus and never allowed the Gallow family to know she existed.
Layla looked at Dominic across the table.
“Then you are my brother.”
“Half brother.”
The words turned every memory of the masquerade gala into something unbearable.
Dominic stood abruptly.
“We did not know.”
Layla pressed both hands against her stomach.
“The babies.”
“The medical specialist said the risk is higher, but they can still be healthy.”
She began crying.
Dominic knelt in front of her but did not touch her.
“I am sorry.”
“This is not your fault.”
“It is my family.”
“It is mine too.”
They sat in silence until Isabella arrived.
She read the results and shook her head.
“Something is wrong.”
“The laboratory confirmed it twice,” Dominic said.
“Marcus could not have fathered Layla.”
“How do you know?”
“Because he was in prison during the year before she was born.”
Dominic stared at her.
Isabella produced records proving Marcus had been held in a federal detention facility for fourteen months.
The DNA test had been manipulated.
Someone wanted Dominic and Layla to believe they were related.
Vincent traced the laboratory technician who processed the samples.
He had disappeared.
Security footage showed him meeting Martin Cross, Vivienne’s younger brother.
The Cross family had altered the result to separate Dominic from Layla and place the pregnancy under suspicion.
A new test was performed under armed supervision.
The result showed no biological relationship.
The twins faced no increased genetic risk.
Relief nearly brought Layla to her knees.
Yet the false test revealed something else.
The Cross family had access to private medical laboratories, hospital records, and identity documents.
They could create almost any version of the truth they needed.
Dominic decided the wedding would continue.
The ceremony would be held at the Cross family’s lakeside estate.
Hidden federal agents would attend as guests.
Eleanor’s testimony would be transmitted to prosecutors once Julian was safe.
Layla was supposed to remain at Isabella’s estate.
She agreed.
Then she secretly contacted Vincent.
“You need someone Vivienne will underestimate,” she said.
Vincent understood immediately.
At four in the morning, Layla packed the silver locket and left through the service entrance.
By sunrise, she was inside the Cross mansion wearing a maid’s uniform.
May you like
Vivienne passed her in the hallway without recognition.
Just as Dominic once had.
