Chapter 3 – The Price of Secrets
The silence that followed Dr. Carter’s announcement didn't just fill the room—it crushed it.
Ninety-nine point nine-nine-nine-nine percent.
In the eyes of science, the law, and every stunned guest in Victoria Vance’s living room, the debate was over. The four children quietly coloring and eating cookies by the grand Christmas tree were Dominic’s blood.
Dominic stayed on his knees, his face buried in his hands. His shoulders shook violently. For eight years, he had lived a lie wrapped in wealth and prestige. Now, the truth had arrived, and it didn't care about his family's reputation.
"This is a mistake," Victoria hissed, her voice cracking as she clutched the marble mantelpiece. "Dr. Carter, your lab must have cross-contaminated the samples. This is statistically impossible!"
Dr. Carter didn't blink. He had served the Vance family for thirty years, but he was still a man of science. "Victoria, the test was run three times. The markers are identical. There is no mistake. Dominic is their father."
The Crack in the Armor
I stood up slowly, smoothing down my coat. I looked at Victoria, whose perfectly manicured facade was completely disintegrating.
"It's over, Victoria," I said quietly. "The science you hoped would save you just handed you the bill."
Dominic finally looked up. His eyes were bloodshot, his face stained with tears. He looked at me, then at the four children who carried his exact features.
"Audrey..." he choked out, his voice hoarse. "Why? Why didn't you tell me? Why did you disappear?"
I stared at him, feeling a familiar, cold anger flare up deep in my chest.
"I didn't disappear, Dominic," I said, every word dripping with absolute certainty. "You threw me out. You signed the papers. You told me if I ever showed my face near your family again, your lawyers would ruin me."
Dominic froze. He stumbled to his feet, his head shaking wildly. "What? No... No, that’s not what happened! You left! You sent me a letter saying the pregnancy was a mistake, that you wanted nothing to do with me, and you demanded a five-million-dollar settlement!"
The room gasped.
I felt Paige shift beside me, her jaw dropping. I looked at Dominic's horrified, confused expression, and then my gaze slowly traveled across the room.
Not to Victoria.
But to the blonde woman standing right next to her.
The Unraveling
Dominic's girlfriend—his fiancée, as of about ten minutes before we walked in—was staring at the floor. Her hands were trembling so hard she dropped her designer clutch.
"A letter?" I asked Dominic softly. "A five-million-dollar demand? I left Texas with eighty-four dollars in my bank account and a sonogram picture. I spent the first year of their lives working three jobs just to afford diapers."
Dominic turned around slowly, his gaze landing on his mother, then moving to his fiancée, Julianne.
"Julianne," Dominic whispered, the realization hitting him like a physical blow. "Eight years ago... you were the one who brought me that letter. You said Audrey gave it to you at the cafe."
Julianne took a step back, her face losing what little color it had left. "Dominic, sweetie, she's lying! She's trying to extort you! Look at her, she brought a lawyer with her!"
"I brought a witness," I corrected coldly.
I reached into my bag one more time. I didn't pull out medical records this time. I pulled out a printed transcript of a bank routing number and a sworn affidavit.
"Eight years ago, a trust fund associated with the Vance corporation transferred two hundred thousand dollars into a private account belonging to Julianne’s family business," I said, placing the papers on top of the DNA results. "The exact same week I was forced out of the city."
A House Divided
Dominic looked at the papers. He didn't even read them fully before the truth shattered whatever illusion he had left.
"You," he breathed, looking at Julianne. "And... and you." He turned to his mother.
Victoria didn't look at him. She adjusted her diamond necklace, her eyes cold as ice. "We did what was necessary to protect you from an opportunist, Dominic. Look at her now. She timed this perfectly. On Christmas Eve, in front of our closest friends."
"An opportunist?" Dominic roared, a sound so raw it made the senator step back. "She raised my children alone! For eight years! While I was living a lie you two manufactured!"
Logan stopped playing with his sister and looked over at us, his brow furrowed with worry. "Mama? Is the crying man mad at you?"
I walked over to my children, blocking them from the wreckage of the Vance family.
"No, sweetheart," I said, kissing the top of Logan's head. "He's not mad at us. The truth is just making a lot of noise."
I looked back at Dominic, whose world had completely ended in the span of an hour.
"I didn't come here for your money, Dominic. I came here so my children would know exactly who their father was—and exactly what kind of family they escaped."
I turned toward the door, signaling to Paige.
"Audrey, wait!" Dominic cried out, taking a step forward. "Please. Let me explain. Let me... let me talk to them."
May you like
I paused at the threshold of the grand living room, the cold winter wind howling outside the mansion.
"You have eight years of explaining to do, Dominic," I said over my shoulder. "But you won't be doing it to me. You'll be doing it under oath."
