Chapter 6
Nobody moved.
The boardroom vanished around me.
I could see only the report.
My name.
Lily's name.
A number.
Probability of paternity: 0%.
I felt Jonathan's hand on my shoulder.
"Don't react until we authenticate it."
I barely heard him.
I looked at Claire.
"Say he's lying."
She cried harder.
"Claire."
"I can explain."
"Say he's lying."
She couldn't.
Something inside me broke.
I stepped away from the table.
Rachel stood.
"Daniel."
I lifted a hand.
I needed space.
Air.
Anything.
I walked into the hallway.
Rachel followed me.
Then Jonathan.
Behind us, the boardroom erupted.
I reached the window at the end of the corridor and stared over Boston.
Cars moved far below.
People walked sidewalks.
The city continued as if my life had not just split in half.
Rachel touched my arm.
"Lily is your daughter."
I closed my eyes.
"Don't."
"She is."
"I know."
And I did know.
That was the strange thing.
The report hurt.
The betrayal hurt.
The fact that Claire might have lied to me for years hurt.
But when I pictured Lily, nothing changed.
She was still the child who fell asleep on my chest.
Still the toddler whose first word had been "Dada."
Still the little girl who insisted pancakes tasted better when I made them badly.
Biology could not erase three years.
But it could reveal a lie.
I turned to Jonathan.
"Can we test independently?"
"Yes."
"Today."
"Yes."
I walked back into the boardroom.
Claire stood as soon as I entered.
"Daniel."
"Who is her biological father?"
She looked at Ethan.
The room went silent.
I followed her eyes.
Ethan stood.
"No."
His voice surprised me.
"What?" I asked.
"I'm not her father."
Claire shook her head.
"He's not."
"Then who?"
She sat slowly.
"I don't know."
My stomach turned.
"You don't know?"
"It wasn't an affair."
I laughed bitterly.
"What would you call it?"
"Daniel, please listen."
"Start talking."
She stared at her hands.
"When we were doing fertility treatment..."
I stopped.
Everything became cold.
"We had embryos."
"Yes."
"You told me Lily came from our second transfer."
"I believed she did."
Jonathan looked up sharply.
"What are you saying?"
Claire wiped her face.
"The clinic made a mistake."
I stared at her.
"No."
"Three months after Lily was born, they contacted me."
"Only you?"
"They tried contacting both of us."
"I never received anything."
"I know."
"Why?"
She looked ashamed.
"Because I changed the contact information."
The betrayal kept finding new depths.
"You intercepted medical information about our child?"
"I was afraid."
"Of what?"
"Of losing her."
Claire's voice cracked.
"The clinic said there might have been a labeling error. They wanted DNA testing. I refused."
"And then?"
"I had a test done privately."
I pointed at the report.
"That one?"
"No."
My heart pounded.
"The first test showed you weren't her biological father."
"And you?"
Claire broke down.
"I wasn't her biological mother either."
The room went silent.
Even Ethan looked uncomfortable.
I stared at her.
"Neither of us?"
She nodded.
I had to grip the chair.
Lily had been born from an embryo that did not belong to us.
Somewhere, another couple might have spent three years wondering what happened to their child.
"Who are her biological parents?"
"I don't know."
"You're lying."
"I'm not."
"Then how did Ethan get this report?"
Claire looked at him.
He answered.
"I found Daniel's hairbrush and had Lily's discarded juice straw tested."
Rage surged through me.
"You collected my child's DNA without permission?"
"I needed proof."
"For your board coup?"
"For Claire."
I stepped toward him.
Jonathan caught my arm.
"Daniel."
Ethan didn't move.
He almost looked like he wanted me to hit him.
I refused to give him that.
"You knew Claire wasn't Lily's biological mother?"
"Yes."
"How long?"
"Eight months."
"And that's why you targeted the trust."
Ethan shook his head.
"The trust says Lily inherits regardless of biological relation."
"How convenient."
"Your father knew."
I froze.
"What?"
Claire stared at Ethan.
"You said you wouldn't."
Ethan opened another folder.
"Robert Bennett knew about the clinic mistake."
I almost laughed from disbelief.
"My father died before Lily turned one."
"Exactly."
He slid a letter across the table.
I recognized my father's handwriting.
Daniel—
If you are reading this, then the truth reached you without me there to explain it.
I stopped reading.
My hands shook.
Rachel took the paper.
Her eyes moved quickly.
Then tears filled them.
"It is his handwriting."
"What does it say?"
She swallowed.
"Dad found out."
"How?"
"Someone from the clinic contacted him because they couldn't reach you."
I looked at Claire.
She nodded.
My father had known.
And he had kept it from me.
Rachel continued reading.
"He says he confronted Claire."
Claire whispered, "He did."
"When?"
"Two months before he died."
I remembered those months.
My father and I barely spoke.
I thought it was because of business.
He had been angry that I rejected his advice.
Now I wondered how many conversations had been about something entirely different.
"Why didn't he tell me?"
Claire stared at me.
"He was going to."
"What stopped him?"
"You."
I almost laughed.
"Of course."
"He watched you with Lily. He said he'd never seen you love anything that completely."
My throat tightened.
"He told me biology didn't make a father."
For the first time all morning, Claire said something that sounded like the man I remembered.
Then Rachel reached the final page.
Her face changed.
"What?"
She handed it to me.
My father had added a final paragraph.
If questions ever arise concerning Lily's identity, contact Dr. Samuel Reeves directly. Do not trust any document provided by the clinic's administrative office. Samuel has retained the original records.
I read it twice.
"Who is Dr. Reeves?"
Claire shook her head.
"I don't know."
Jonathan searched.
"Samuel Reeves. Reproductive endocrinologist. Retired four years ago."
"Where is he?"
"New Hampshire."
Ethan stood.
"This isn't relevant to the board."
I looked at him.
"It's the only thing that matters right now."
"The company still needs leadership."
"You mean you still need my chair."
Howard spoke from the end of the table.
"No vote is happening today."
Ethan turned.
"You can't unilaterally stop it."
"No," Howard said. "But I can move for an independent investigation into the transfers to Meridian, and I suspect I have enough support."
Three directors immediately agreed.
Ethan's face tightened.
For the first time, he was losing control.
Claire looked at him.
"You told me the board was guaranteed."
He snapped, "Not now."
She flinched.
I saw it.
And for one second, their alliance didn't look so strong.
Jonathan whispered, "We should leave."
I nodded.
Before I reached the door, Ethan called my name.
I turned.
"You think finding Reeves will fix this?"
"No."
"It won't."
"Maybe not."
He leaned forward.
"Because you still don't understand what your father did."
I stared at him.
"Then enlighten me."
He smiled bitterly.
"My father wasn't trying to steal Bennett money."
"No?"
"He was trying to expose what your father was doing at that fertility clinic."
The room fell silent.
"What are you talking about?"
"Bennett Capital invested in it."
I looked at Rachel.
She shook her head.
I had never heard that.
Ethan continued.
"Your father knew patients' embryos were being mishandled."
"No."
"He knew."
"Prove it."
"I intend to."
Claire suddenly stood.
"Ethan, stop."
He glared at her.
"You wanted the truth out."
"Not like this."
He pointed at me.
"Your husband has spent his whole life believing Robert Bennett was some misunderstood genius."
"My father was complicated," I said. "He wasn't a monster."
Ethan's eyes hardened.
"Ask Reeves."
Then he gathered his papers.
His attorney followed.
As Ethan reached the door, I said, "You are suspended from all executive access pending investigation."
He stopped.
"You can't do that alone."
Rebecca spoke from behind him.
"He doesn't have to."
She held up her phone.
"Four directors just voted electronically for emergency suspension."
Ethan stared at her.
Then at me.
For the first time in twenty years, my best friend looked like a stranger who had nowhere left to hide.
But Claire was watching him too.
And there was fear in her expression.
Not fear for Ethan.
Fear of Ethan.
That mattered.
Outside the boardroom, she caught my sleeve.
"Daniel."
I pulled away.
"Don't."
"You need to listen to me before you see Dr. Reeves."
"Why?"
"Because Ethan isn't telling you everything."
I stared at her.
"Neither are you."
Her face crumpled.
"I know."
"Then start."
She looked toward the elevators where Ethan had disappeared.
"He didn't come into my life because he loved me."
"I already figured that out."
"No."
She lowered her voice.
"He came to me because he believed Lily was his sister's daughter."
I froze.
"What?"
Claire began crying again.
"Ethan thinks the embryo belonged to his sister, Caroline."
I knew the name.
Caroline Cole had died eight years earlier.
Long before Lily was born.
"That's impossible."
Claire shook her head.
"No."
May you like
Then she said the sentence that sent us racing toward New Hampshire.
"Her embryos were stored at the same clinic."
