Chapter 6 - Brooke’s Dirty Secret
While the Vance family was being systematically dismantled on Fifth Avenue, I sat quietly in the private conference room of the city's premier DNA diagnostic lab.
Leo was resting comfortably in the hospital playroom under the watchful eyes of two private pediatric nurses and round-the-clock armed security. Seeing him smile for the first time in six months when I handed him his favorite plush bear gave me the strength of an army. I was no longer just a mother protecting her child; I was a predator clearing the forest of parasites.
The door to the conference room opened, and Dr. Robert Harris, the lab director, walked in holding a sealed yellow envelope.
"You asked for an expedited rush on the comparative samples, Clara," Dr. Harris said, sliding the envelope across the mahogany table. "We ran the hair follicles from Liam Ellis against Dominic Vance’s baseline profile stored in the medical database."
I didn't open it immediately. "Tell me the probability, Robert."
Dr. Robert adjusted his glasses, a look of profound irony crossing his features. "Zero percent. Dominic Vance is not Liam Ellis's biological father."
I let out a slow, dry laugh.
For two years, Brooke had paraded that little boy through charity galas, whispered into Victoria’s ear that Liam was the true heir to the Vance lineage, and weaponized him against Leo. Victoria had called my son defective while treating Liam like a young prince, all while Dominic strutted around the city believing his virility was proven by another woman's womb.
"Did you run the secondary profile I requested?" I asked.
"Yes," Dr. Robert replied, nodding toward the secondary report inside. "We matched Liam's paternal markers with the genetic profile on file for Marcus Cole’s private background check on Brooke’s associates. The biological father is a man named Gregory Turner."
"Dominic’s former college roommate and current head of logistics," I whispered, connecting the final dots in the web.
Gregory Turner was the very man Dominic had hired to manage the European shipping routes where the fourteen million dollars vanished. Brooke hadn't just seduced Dominic for money; she and Gregory had planned the entire grift together, using Dominic’s staggering vanity and stupidity as their vehicle to drain the Sterling fortune dry.
"Julian," I said into my phone, dialing my lawyer instantly. "Where are they now?"
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"Dominic checked his mother and Brooke into a cheap midtown motel on his emergency corporate expense card," Julian reported, barely concealing his amusement. "Which I am about to cancel in ten minutes. Dominic is heading toward the corporate headquarters right now. He thinks he can rally the board of directors before the morning bell."
"Perfect," I replied, standing up and buttoning my black double-breasted blazer. "Let him gather the board. It's time for the final performance."
