Chapter 2 - THE DNA REPORT
Adrian did not open the DNA report immediately.
He stared at the sealed digital attachment as though it might explode.
Grace sat across from him.
“It could be fake.”
“It probably is.”
“Then why are you afraid to open it?”
He looked toward the staircase.
Because Mia’s mother was dead.
Because Julia had died six years earlier in a car accident.
Because there was no one left to explain anything.
Because Adrian had never questioned whether Mia was his daughter.
Not once.
Mia had his laugh.
His stubbornness.
His habit of sleeping with one foot outside the blanket.
None of that mattered legally.
But it mattered to him.
Grace spoke gently.
“Whatever is in that report, you are Mia’s legal father.”
“I’m her father.”
“I know.”
“No qualifier.”
Grace nodded.
“Then open it.”
He did.
The report came from a private laboratory in Nevada.
Test subjects:
MIA MERCER.
ADRIAN MERCER.
Conclusion:
Probability of biological paternity: 0.00%.
Adrian stopped reading.
His ears rang.
Grace took the tablet from him.
“This is not proof.”
“It has my name.”
“Your name can be typed.”
“It says they tested me.”
“Did you ever submit DNA?”
“No.”
“Then either the sample was obtained without consent or the report is fabricated.”
Adrian looked down at his hands.
There was no shock about Mia.
Not really.
His first feeling was rage.
Whoever had done this believed biology could make him step away.
They did not know him.
Grace continued examining the report.
“Collection date was eight months ago.”
Adrian frowned.
“What happened eight months ago?”
He thought.
Business trip.
Mia’s birthday.
Vanessa had given him an at-home health kit.
He looked up sharply.
“Vanessa gave me a genealogy test.”
Grace froze.
“Did you use it?”
“Yes.”
“Saliva sample?”
“Yes.”
His stomach dropped.
“And Mia?”
He remembered.
Vanessa had turned it into a family game.
Let’s see what countries we come from.
Mia had spit into a tube too.
Adrian stood.
“She had both samples.”
Grace cursed quietly.
“She could have submitted them anywhere.”
“But why?”
Grace held up the court filing.
“To create leverage.”
He paced.
“If Mia isn’t biologically mine, what happens to the trust?”
“We don’t know because we don’t know whether the trust is real.”
“And inheritance?”
“That depends on your mother’s estate documents.”
“Get them.”
“I’m trying.”
The estate had been handled by Victor Lang, Evelyn Mercer’s longtime private attorney.
Grace called.
No answer.
She tried his office.
Disconnected.
Adrian frowned.
“When did you last speak to Victor?”
“Your mother’s memorial.”
“That was over a year ago.”
“Yes.”
“Find him.”
Grace nodded.
Adrian looked again at the report.
“What about Julia?”
Grace hesitated.
“You need to decide whether you want the biological question investigated.”
“There is nothing to decide.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
“Even if the answer hurts?”
He looked toward Mia’s room.
“The answer doesn’t change who I am to her.”
Grace gave a small nod.
“Good.”
Then Adrian added, “But someone is using Julia’s life to attack my daughter. I want to know why.”
---
Mia woke from her nap just before five.
Her hair was dry now.
She wore pajamas even though the sun was still up.
Adrian made grilled cheese because it was the only thing she wanted.
She ate three bites.
Then pushed the plate away.
“Is Vanessa coming back?”
“No.”
“Ever?”
Adrian chose his words carefully.
“She won’t be living here.”
Mia’s shoulders relaxed.
That broke his heart.
He sat beside her.
“You should have told me.”
Her face changed.
“I tried.”
The words hit exactly where they should.
Adrian swallowed.
“You’re right.”
Mia looked at him.
“I told you she was mean when you went away.”
“You did.”
“You said she was stressed.”
“I did.”
“You said I had to give her a chance.”
“I did.”
Silence.
Adrian forced himself not to explain.
He had explanations.
Work.
Grief.
Vanessa’s manipulation.
None mattered to Mia.
“I was wrong,” he said.
She stared at him.
“I’m sorry.”
“Are you mad at me?”
“No.”
“Even if I made things harder?”
“You didn’t.”
Mia’s eyes filled.
“Vanessa said you were happier before me.”
Adrian felt something inside him break.
He pulled her close.
“That is not true.”
“She said Mom died and you got stuck with me.”
He closed his eyes.
Mia began crying again.
Adrian held her.
“No. Listen to me.”
She buried her face against him.
“When your mom died, I thought I was going to stop breathing forever.”
His own voice shook.
“But you were the reason I got out of bed. You were the reason I ate. You were the reason I kept going.”
Mia looked up.
“You were never something I got stuck with.”
He wiped her tears.
“You were the reason I stayed.”
For the first time that day, Mia hugged him without trembling.
Adrian held her until she let go.
Then she asked the question he had been avoiding.
“Why did Vanessa push me?”
He could not tell her about trusts.
DNA.
Court filings.
Not yet.
“Because she wanted control.”
“Of me?”
“Of things around you.”
Mia thought.
“School?”
“Maybe.”
“She hated my school.”
“Why?”
“She said rich schools make kids spoiled.”
Adrian frowned.
Vanessa had insisted on Mia attending a cheaper academy.
He had overruled her.
At the time, he thought it was about philosophy.
Maybe it had been about access.
“What did Vanessa say about the private school?”
Mia shrugged.
“She said Grandma only wanted me there because of the Mercer program.”
Adrian froze.
“What program?”
Mia looked confused.
“The one with my name.”
He stared.
“What are you talking about?”
“Grandma’s program.”
Adrian’s heart began pounding.
“Where did you hear that?”
“Vanessa.”
“What exactly did she say?”
Mia thought carefully.
“She said Grandma made a stupid rule that if I went to that school, I would get everything.”
Adrian stood.
Grace, listening from the doorway, went pale.
“What does that mean?”
Mia looked between them.
“I don’t know.”
Grace asked, “Did she ever say what ‘everything’ was?”
Mia nodded.
“She said, ‘If you make it to graduation, your father won’t own this house anymore.’”
Silence.
Adrian’s skin went cold.
The trust might be real.
And the school was a trigger.
Vanessa had not pushed Mia into the pond because she hated elite education.
She wanted Mia out of the school because enrollment activated something.
Grace opened her laptop.
“We need the school contract.”
Adrian called the headmaster.
Fifteen minutes later, they had Mia’s enrollment file.
Buried in the financial documents was a special tuition agreement.
Mia’s fees had been prepaid for nine years.
By Evelyn Mercer.
Adrian stared.
“My mother paid before she died.”
Grace kept scrolling.
Then stopped.
There was a supplemental letter.
Upon Mia Mercer’s enrollment at Hawthorne Academy, the Evelyn Mercer Educational Legacy Agreement becomes active.
Grace whispered, “There it is.”
“What is it?”
“I don’t know yet.”
The attachment required a password.
Adrian tried his mother’s birthday.
Wrong.
Mia’s birthday.
Wrong.
Julia’s birthday.
Wrong.
Mia looked over his shoulder.
“Try fish.”
Adrian blinked.
“What?”
“Grandma used fish for everything.”
Grace smiled despite herself.
“Security nightmare.”
Adrian typed KOI.
Wrong.
Mia shook her head.
“Not koi. Goldie.”
Evelyn had owned a ridiculous goldfish when Adrian was a child.
GOLDIE.
The file opened.
Adrian stared at the legal document.
The agreement transferred controlling ownership of the Mercer family residence and a significant block of Mercer Education Holdings into an irrevocable trust for Mia once she enrolled at Hawthorne Academy.
If she remained enrolled through graduation, ownership vested fully at age eighteen.
If she withdrew voluntarily, the assets reverted to Adrian.
If Adrian removed her, an independent trustee retained them.
But there was one exception.
If Mia was found not to be a legal descendant of Evelyn Mercer, the trust dissolved.
Adrian understood.
Vanessa needed Mia removed from the school.
Or removed from the family.
The DNA attack solved both.
Grace read the final paragraph.
Her expression changed.
“What?”
“There’s another beneficiary.”
Adrian leaned closer.
Contingent beneficiary: NOAH MERCER.
He frowned.
“I don’t know anyone named Noah Mercer.”
Grace searched the family records.
Nothing.
Mia whispered, “I do.”
Both adults turned.
Adrian stared.
“What?”
Mia looked nervous.
“Noah is the boy Vanessa used to visit.”
The room went silent.
“When?”
“When you were traveling.”
“Where?”
“At a blue house.”
Adrian felt cold.
“You went with her?”
“Once.”
“What happened?”
“She told me to stay in the car.”
“Did you?”
Mia hesitated.
“No.”
“What did you see?”
“A boy.”
“How old?”
“Maybe twelve.”
“Did Vanessa say who he was?”
Mia nodded.
“She told him, ‘Soon you’ll have what should have been yours from the beginning.’”
Grace slowly closed the laptop.
Adrian’s stomach dropped.
“Vanessa has a child.”
Mia shook her head.
“She told him to call her Aunt Vanessa.”
Grace looked at Adrian.
“Then who is Noah Mercer?”
Adrian did not know.
But one thing was suddenly clear.
May you like
Vanessa had not married Adrian only to take Mia’s inheritance.
She had another child waiting to replace her.
