Chapter 4 - The Sabotaged Results
The air in the grand drawing room felt like it was trapped in a vacuum.
Alexander stood near the fireplace, the flickering amber flames casting sharp glints across his chiseled jawline. Clara stood a few feet away, her hands trembling as she held a waking Lily close to her chest. Across the room, Vanessa lounged on a velvet sofa, a triumphant, venomous smirk barely concealed behind her perfectly manicured hand. She had spent the last hour whispering into the ears of family lawyers and whispering threats to the household staff.
Alexander tore open the seal of the manila envelope. He pulled out the single sheet of official hospital letterhead, his eyes scanning the printed text.
The silence in the room stretched out, agonizing and thick.
Suddenly, Alexanderâs breath hitched. The color seemed to drain entirely from his face, leaving him looking carved out of white marble. His fingers tightened around the paper so hard that the heavy cardstock crumpled, tearing slightly at the edges.
Vanessa couldn't contain herself any longer. She stood up, her eyes sparkling with malicious victory.
"Well, Alexander?" Vanessa purred, her voice dripping with fake sympathy. "Is the little street rat yours? Or is it finally time to admit that this pathetic gold-digger orchestrated an elaborate scam to steal your fortune?"
Alexander slowly raised his head. His eyes, devoid of all light, locked onto Clara.
"Zero percent," Alexander whispered, the words sounding like glass grinding together in his throat. "The genetic match... is zero percent."
Clara staggered backward as if she had been physically struck. The breath rushed out of her lungs in a sharp, painful gasp. "No... That's impossible! I didn't fake anything! I swear to God, I don't even know what a DNA test is, I justâ"
"Save your breath, you disgusting little liar!" Vanessa shrieked, dropping the mask of sophistication entirely as she stepped forward, pointing a manicured finger directly at Clara's face. "You heard the doctor! You stole that watch from a museum or a pawn shop, trained your bastard child to dance like a circus animal, and came here looking for a payday! Get out of this house before I have security throw you both into the freezing gutters where you belong!"
"Enough!" Alexander roared, the sound echoing like thunder through the mansion.
He looked at the paper in his hand, his heart screaming that something was fundamentally wrong. The genetic science said zero, but every instinct, every beat of his blood, told him it was a lie. And yet, in the cold, unyielding world of high finance and corporate law, a signed medical document bearing Dr. Evans' license number was absolute proof.
He had let his emotions cloud his judgment. He had allowed a ghost from his past to make a fool of him in front of his fiancée and his board members.
"Clara," Alexander said, his voice dead, hollow, and suffocated by a grief deeper than the ocean. He couldn't look her in the eye. "Take your child. Gather whatever belongs to you. My head of security will escort you off the property."
Tears streamed down Claraâs face, hot and blinding. The humiliation was absolute, burning away whatever faint hope she had dared to harbor. She clutched Lilyâwho was now crying, frightened by the shoutingâand lifted her chin with what little dignity she had left.
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"I never wanted your money, Mr. Sterling," Clara choked out, her voice trembling with heartbreak. "And I certainly didn't ask to be brought here. I hope you find the peace you're looking for. But you just threw away the only real thing you ever had."
Without another word, Clara turned around and walked out of the penthouse, her bare feet clicking softly against the marble floor as the rain outside began to howl like a pack of wolves.
