Chapter 2 â The Truth Inside the Red Folder
Chapter 2 â The Truth Inside the Red Folder
Every eye in the ballroom followed the laboratory report in my hands.
Natalie swallowed hard.
"What is that?" she asked, though the confidence had already drained from her voice.
Grant adjusted his glasses before speaking.
"It is a certified prenatal DNA exclusion report."
The room became even quieter.
Eric frowned.
"What are you talking about?"
Grant opened another document.
"Three weeks ago, Miss Natalie Collins voluntarily submitted a prenatal DNA sample."
Natalie's head snapped toward him.
"I neverâ"
"You did," Grant interrupted calmly. "You believed you were signing routine medical paperwork at the private clinic your obstetrician recommended."
Her face turned white.
"The clinic was conducting an additional paternity analysis that had already been authorized."
Eric stared at Natalie.
"What did he just say?"
Grant slid the report across the cake table.
"The unborn child is not biologically related to Eric Collins."
Gasps echoed through the ballroom.
Natalie grabbed the report with trembling hands.
"No..."
Her eyes raced over every line.
Probability of paternity...
Zero percent.
Impossible.
"This has to be fake!"
Grant calmly placed another envelope beside it.
"It was verified by two independent laboratories."
Natalie looked desperately toward Eric.
"Say something!"
Eric's face had become expressionless.
"You told me..."
Tears finally filled Natalie's eyes.
"I thought it was yours."
"You thought?"
His voice was barely above a whisper.
"You promised me."
"I never slept with anyone else..."
Grant quietly interrupted again.
"Unfortunately, that statement is also contradicted by our investigation."
He removed several glossy photographs.
Different hotels.
Different dates.
Different men.
One face appeared repeatedly.
The man I had been watching all evening slowly stood from Table Seven.
Natalie froze.
"No..."
He walked toward us.
Six feet tall.
Dark suit.
Silver watch.
His jaw tightened the closer he came.
Eric looked confused.
"Who is he?"
Grant answered.
"His name is Daniel Mercer."
Daniel stopped only a few feet away.
His eyes never left Natalie.
"I think it's time you told everyone the truth."
Natalie looked as though the floor had disappeared beneath her.
May you like
For the first time that evening...
She had no lie left.
