Chapter 10: The Blood Test
Chapter 10: The Blood Test
The day of the DNA collection was a blur. Daniel stood in a sterile medical clinic, a nurse scraping the inside of his cheek with a cotton swab. He felt like a ghost inhabiting his own body. He looked at the vial containing his genetic material, realizing that within forty-eight hours, his entire identity could be erased.
When they returned home, Daniel went up to the attic. He began pulling down old boxes of childhood photos, searching for something, anything, that connected him to the woman who had terrorized his family.
Emma found him sitting on the dusty floor, surrounded by faded polaroids.
"Look at this," Daniel said, handing her a photo of Margaret holding him as a newborn. Margaret wasn't smiling. She looked detached, holding him like a trophy rather than a son. "There are no pregnancy photos of her, Emma. Not a single one. I always thought it was because we were poor and couldn't afford a camera, but... what if it’s true?"
Emma sat beside him, pulling his head onto her shoulder. "If it’s true, Daniel, it means she never had a right to control you. It means the guilt she used to chain you to her was stolen. It doesn't make you less; it makes you free."
Meanwhile, the police had finally tracked Margaret's vehicle to the outskirts of the county. A tactical team descended on Victor Vance’s cabin, but they were too late. The cabin was empty, save for a shredded copy of the original trust agreement and a single medical file bearing the name Sarah Hayes.
Margaret and Victor were already staying in a luxury hotel downtown, preparing for their final courtroom execution.
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"The DNA results are already processed," Victor said, receiving a encrypted email from his contact at the lab. He smiled warmly as he read the data. "It’s a mismatch, Margaret. Zero percent maternal probability. You are not his mother, and he is not a Vance heir."
Margaret looked out the hotel window at the city skyline. A twisted, satisfied smile played on her lips. "He thought he could cast me out. He thought he could choose that girl over me. Tomorrow, I am going to watch him lose his house, his money, and his identity. And then, I will take his child."
