Everything inside me went cold.
That wasn’t part of anything Adrian had shown me.
He turned toward the screen.
“What other secret?”
“I don’t know.”
For the first time all weekend, Vanessa looked genuinely terrified.
Not angry.
Not embarrassed.
Terrified.
My mother rushed toward the control table.
“Stop this!”
Mara stepped in front of her.
The screen went black.
Then another file appeared.
Timestamp:
Six months earlier.
My mother began shaking her head.
“No.”
Vanessa backed away.
“No.
No, no, no.”
A man seated near the rear of the ballroom slowly stood.
Silver hair.
Black tuxedo.
Tall.
Distinguished.
I recognized him.
Dr.
Simon Vale.
A respected genetic genealogist who had once handled a complicated inheritance case for my grandmother.
My mother’s knees nearly buckled.
Adrian released my hand.
“Claire, who is that?”
Before I could answer, Simon started walking down the mirrored aisle.
My mother stepped into his path.
“You promised me.”
Simon stopped.
His expression didn’t change.
“No, Diane.
You paid me.”
Whispers exploded through the ballroom.
Vanessa rushed toward the control table.
Two members of venue security blocked her.
“GET OUT OF MY WAY!”
The technician looked toward me.
His finger hovered above PLAY.
My mother turned.
Her face had transformed.
The arrogance was gone.
The confidence was gone.
For the first time in my life, Diane Vance looked frightened of me.
“Claire,” she whispered, “if you play that recording, your marriage is over before it begins.”
Vanessa was crying now.
Real tears.
I looked at Adrian.
He was no longer touching me.
Then I looked at Simon.
“What is on that recording?”
My mother grabbed my arm.
“Claire, please.”
I pulled away.
“Play it.”
The ballroom went dark.
The recording began.
It appeared to have been made inside Simon’s Manhattan office.
My mother sat at a polished conference table.
Vanessa sat beside her.
Simon’s voice came from behind the camera.
“You understand what you’re requesting would constitute fraud?”
My mother answered.
“I understand.”
Vanessa shifted nervously.
Simon continued.
“You want me to prepare a genetic relationship report stating that Claire Vance is the biological daughter of Richard Bell.”
Adrian went completely still.
Richard Bell was his father.
A man who had died eight years earlier.
If Claire Vance was Richard Bell’s daughter—
I would be Adrian’s half-sister.
A scream escaped somewhere in the ballroom.
I couldn’t breathe.
My mother looked at me.
“I warned you.”
Adrian stepped backward.
For one horrifying second, I thought she had told the truth.
Then Simon’s recorded voice continued.
“And the DNA sample you supplied as Claire’s?”
My mother said nothing.
Simon repeated the question.
Vanessa whispered:
“It’s mine.”
