Chapter 1
I turned toward the guests.
More specifically, toward Theo.
“A certified prenatal paternity report.”
Theo closed his eyes.
Laya whispered, “No.”
I continued.
“Mother, Laya Monroe. Alleged father, Theodore Vale. Probability of paternity, 99.98 percent.”
The room went silent so quickly that I heard someone set a champagne glass onto a tray thirty feet away.
Nathan looked at his brother.
Theo stared at the floor.
Nathan’s voice dropped.
“Tell me this is fake.”
Theo said nothing.
“Theo.”
“It isn’t fake.”
Laya grabbed Nathan’s arm.
“Nathan, listen to me.”
He pulled away.
“You told me there was uncertainty.”
“There was uncertainty about what Theo would do.”
“That isn’t what you said.”
Theo finally stood.
“She told you the baby was mine.”
Nathan turned on him.
“You knew I signed the acknowledgment.”
“Yes.”
“You let me.”
Theo laughed once, without humor.
“You told me biology didn’t matter as long as you filed first.”
Phones appeared everywhere.
Guests began recording.
Miles started crying.
For one second, all my anger disappeared.
He was a baby surrounded by adults who had turned him into evidence.
“Take him somewhere quiet,” I told Laya.
Nathan snapped toward me.
“Don’t tell my wife what to do.”
Laya stared at him.
Miles cried harder.
Then something in her expression changed.
“She’s the only person here thinking about him.”
That hurt Nathan more than anything I had said.
Laya carried Miles toward the side doors.
Before she left, she looked at me.
There was no victory in her face anymore.
Only fear.
Nathan stepped toward me.
“You came here to humiliate me.”
“No.”
“You waited until my wedding.”
“You chose the wedding.”
His mother, Eleanor Vale, rose.
“Olivia, enough.”
I looked at her.
She touched the pearl necklace at her throat.
She did that when she was frightened.
I had noticed it during nine years of Christmas dinners, hospital visits, and board meetings.
“This is a family matter,” she said.
“No. You made it a corporate matter when Nathan used Miles to claim permanent control of Vale Biomedical.”
Several board members stood.
Nathan froze.
I removed the second document.
“The trust committee received a formal challenge at eight this morning.”
“What challenge?”
“The one based on your failure to disclose a competing paternity claim.”
Nathan’s face changed.
He finally understood why three independent directors were attending his wedding without spouses.
Margaret Sloan, the company’s lead independent director, stepped forward.
“Nathan, did you know Theodore claimed biological paternity before you signed the trust declaration?”