Chapter 8 - THE NAME MISSING FROM THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE
The original birth certificate listed Lucy Hale as Lucy Whitmore.
Daniel’s surname had been added six weeks after her birth.
That was not unusual.
Daniel had been overseas when Lucy was born.
The sealed folder contained something else.
A private paternity test.
The test claimed Daniel was not Lucy’s biological father.
Nora stared at the result.
“This is false.”
Daniel’s attorney looked toward the board.
“Mr. Hale discovered the report recently.”
“He believes Nora concealed the child’s true paternity.”
Charles stood.
“Where did you obtain this?”
Daniel answered from the doorway.
“Dr. Preston Vale.”
The same doctor who signed Nora’s false psychiatric report.
Nora almost laughed.
The manipulation was obvious.
But a paternity allegation could still create public chaos.
Daniel filed a custody challenge based on fraud.
He argued that if he was not Lucy’s father, Nora had used him for financial and social advantage.
Nora ordered an independent test immediately.
Daniel refused to provide a sample voluntarily.
A court compelled him.
The results returned within forty-eight hours.
Daniel was Lucy’s biological father.
The earlier report had been fabricated.
Dr. Vale disappeared before police could question him.
His clinic was empty.
Records showed large payments from Arden Medical Consulting.
Celeste’s family had paid him.
Nora understood the purpose.
If the ballroom plan failed, Daniel could deny Lucy.
If the custody plan failed, he could claim Nora committed paternity fraud.
Every path had been prepared.
Charles’s investigators traced Vale to a private airport.
He was arrested before boarding a flight to Argentina.
Inside his suitcase were blank psychiatric forms signed by Daniel.
There were also medical reports involving Lucy.
One described anxiety, aggression, and attachment problems.
Lucy had never been examined by Vale.
The reports recommended placement in a residential school in Switzerland.
The same school named in Daniel’s custody documents.
Nora’s anger became colder.
“They were going to label her disturbed.”
Charles nodded.
“So no one would question why she disappeared from your home.”
The school charged nearly two hundred thousand dollars per year.
Its ownership records connected it to Harrison Arden.
Celeste’s father.
The gala had been one scene inside a much larger plan.
The Ardens wanted Daniel divorced.
Nora discredited.
Lucy sent overseas.
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Then Daniel and Celeste would combine Hale Meridian with Arden Medical.
The company would become theirs.
