Chapter 15
I dropped the paper.
Julian picked it up.
Then froze.
For a moment, neither of us spoke.
Detective Chen took the report and scanned it quickly.
“This is not a standard paternity result,” she said. “It says possible family-line match, not father.”
Julian exhaled sharply.
I barely heard her.
The room spun.
“My mother never told me who my father was.”
Julian’s voice was gentle.
“Mara, I was seventeen when you were born.”
I looked at him.
“I know.”
He flinched.
Not because I accused him.
Because the possibility was horrifying for both of us.
Detective Chen read further.
“This says the DNA matched the Vale male line. It does not identify Julian specifically. It could be his father, uncle, cousin.”
Beatrice had mentioned an older brother once in the articles.
Edmund Vale.
Dead before Julian took over.
My chest tightened.
“Why would Vivienne have this?”
Julian’s face changed.
“My father.”
Detective Chen looked up.
“Henry Vale?”
“He had affairs. Many. My mother knew. Vivienne discovered records after we married.”
I gripped the metal case.
“So my mother was paid because your family abandoned her?”
“I don’t know yet.”
“But maybe.”
His silence was answer enough.
A new letter sat at the bottom of the box.
My name on the envelope.
Mara, if you find this, do not hate Vivienne. She was the only rich woman who ever apologized to me.
I opened it with shaking hands.
My mother wrote that Henry Vale had used her when she was young and working at a hotel.
When she became pregnant, his people paid her to disappear.
Years later, Vivienne found proof and tried to help.
Then Marion Ashford found out.
Because Marion had been Henry’s fixer.
I looked at Julian.
“We might be family.”
May you like
His eyes were wet.
“Then I failed family before I knew your name.”
