Chapter 18 - THE DNA REPORT
Nora refused to touch the paper.
Lorenzo took it first.
He read.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He looked at Nora.
“This says Thomas Vale is excluded as your biological father.”
Nora laughed nervously.
“No.”
Eleanor watched.
“The test was conducted twenty-eight years ago.”
“That doesn't make sense.”
Margaret had believed Thomas was Nora’s father.
Everyone had.
Eleanor explained.
Margaret had briefly separated from Thomas during the worst period of their relationship.
During that time, she became close to another man.
She returned to Thomas before realizing she was pregnant.
The dates overlapped.
Thomas assumed Nora was his.
Margaret apparently did too.
“Who?” Nora whispered.
Eleanor looked toward Giovanni.
“No.”
Giovanni’s face went white.
Lorenzo stood.
Nora immediately saw the horror in his eyes.
She understood what everyone feared.
“No.”
Giovanni spoke quickly.
“Not me.”
Relief entered the room so violently it was almost absurd.
Eleanor laughed.
“Please. Giovanni was never Margaret’s taste.”
Giovanni looked offended despite the moment.
“Thank you?”
The biological father was another Moretti associate.
Samuel Bennett.
A young attorney who had helped Margaret gather evidence.
He died in the warehouse explosion Thomas survived.
Nora sat down.
“So my father died before I was born.”
“Yes.”
Eleanor smiled.
“That part Margaret told you was true.”
Nora looked at Lorenzo.
“If Samuel worked for the Morettis…”
Eleanor nodded.
“He was Celeste’s uncle.”
Now everyone was confused.
Celeste, reached by phone, screamed:
“What?”
Samuel Bennett was her mother’s younger brother.
Meaning Nora and Celeste were cousins.
Marcus said:
“This family is becoming impossible to chart.”
Lily later solved the problem by drawing everyone as circles and arrows.
She added a dragon beside Thomas.
Nobody corrected her.
But the DNA revelation created a bigger problem.
Nora was not biologically entitled to the Vale accounts.
Which meant someone else was.
Thomas.
If Thomas died—
Eleanor.
Nora looked at her.
“This is what you wanted.”
Eleanor smiled.
“Finally.”
“You wanted us to prove I’m not his daughter.”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because Thomas planned to transfer the network to you.”
Nora stared.
“Why?”
“Because he became sentimental.”
Eleanor’s contempt was unmistakable.
“He admired you.”
“That is not love.”
“I agree.”
Eleanor leaned back.
“He intended to destroy me.”
So Eleanor had manipulated everyone into revealing the paternity truth before Thomas could change the inheritance structure.
Lorenzo said:
“You used Lily as leverage.”
“I used a photograph.”
“You entered her bedroom.”
“Yes.”
Nora’s voice became cold.
“Never again.”
Eleanor looked amused.
“Or?”
Nora stepped closer.
“I don't need a criminal empire to make your final years extremely uncomfortable.”
Eleanor laughed.
“I do like you.”
“I don't care.”
Nora took the DNA report.
“You can keep Thomas’s money.”
“I intend to.”
“No.”
Nora smiled.
“You misunderstand.”
Margaret’s evidence documented thousands of legitimate claims against Vale companies.
Lawsuits.
Restitution.
Fraud victims.
Employee pensions.
If the accounts returned to Eleanor, lawyers could freeze enormous portions immediately.
Nora had already prepared it.
Eleanor’s smile vanished.
Lorenzo looked at his wife.
“When?”
“On the plane.”
“You planned all that?”
“I had Wi-Fi.”
He smiled with pride.
Eleanor stared at Nora.
“You would destroy billions because they belonged to people you never met?”
“No.”
Nora looked at her.
“I’d return billions because they never belonged to you.”
Eleanor's hands trembled.
For the first time in decades, someone had beaten her using the one thing she never respected.
Fairness.
Then an explosion rocked the mansion.
Glass shattered.
Lorenzo dragged Nora down.
Gunfire erupted outside.
Eleanor looked genuinely shocked.
“This isn't mine.”
May you like
Thomas had escaped federal transport.
And he had come for his mother.
