Chapter 10
Laya testified first.
She wore a navy suit.
No wedding ring.
Nathan sat across the room.
“When did you tell Mr. Vale that Theodore Vale was Miles’s biological father?” the attorney asked.
“Before Miles was born.”
“Did Mr. Vale believe the prenatal test?”
“Yes.”
“Why did you sign documents representing Nathan as the father for purposes of the family trust?”
Laya’s hands tightened.
“Because I wanted what he offered.”
“What did he offer?”
“A home. Security. His name for my son.”
She took a breath.
“And because I wanted to win.”
Nathan stared at her.
Laya did not look away.
“I helped him lie. I lied too. You don’t have to believe I’m a good person. Believe the report. Believe his recording. Believe the documents we signed.”
Theo testified next.
He admitted the affair.
The paternity test.
His refusal to acknowledge Miles publicly.
His wife had already filed for divorce.
“Why did you let your brother claim your child?” the attorney asked.
Theo looked exhausted.
“Because Nathan was always better at wanting things out loud.”
The trust committee invalidated Nathan’s permanent voting control.
Independent trustees received temporary authority.
Family court would decide Miles’s legal parentage separately.
Outside the courthouse, Nathan waited until everyone else had left.
“You got what you wanted.”
“The trust ruling?”
“Everything.”
I closed my bag.
“You still think this was about defeating you.”
“What else could it be?”
“Stopping you.”
He smiled bitterly.
“Same thing.”
“No.”
He looked older than he had at the wedding.
Not because of time.
Because certainty had left his face.
“Were we ever real?” I asked.
Nathan looked startled.
“What?”
“The nine years. Was any of it real?”
His expression softened.
“You know it was.”
I did.
That was harder than believing everything had been fake.
Real love could still end badly.
Good memories did not guarantee good character forever.
“Then why invite me to the wedding?”
Nathan looked toward the courthouse windows.
“I wanted you to see someone chose me.”
I stared at him.
“After nine years?”
“You postponed our wedding twice.”
“So you wanted to punish me.”
“I wanted you to understand what you lost.”
“You scheduled my termination for the next morning.”
“I wanted you out before you made Laya feel temporary.”
“She became temporary the moment the trust failed.”
Nathan’s jaw tightened.
“You don’t know that.”
“Do you still live together?”
He said nothing.
Laya had moved to her sister’s house three weeks earlier.