Chapter 13 - THE DNA TEST THAT COULD DESTROY THEM
Adeline vomited in the emergency room bathroom.
Not from injury.
From horror.
Elias stood outside the door like a statue.
Neither had spoken since Claire produced the file.
Their kiss felt radioactive now.
Every moment between them had changed meaning in a single line of text.
When Adeline emerged, she looked at Claire.
“Tell me it’s false.”
Claire’s face was wet with tears.
“It is.”
Adeline stopped.
“What?”
“Roberto was not your father.”
Elias turned sharply.
“Then why does the record say he was?”
“Because I put his name there.”
Silence.
Adeline stared.
“You falsified my birth certificate?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“To protect your real father.”
“Who was he?”
Claire looked toward the floor.
“David Marsh.”
“My dad?”
“The man you remember as your father.”
Adeline’s knees weakened.
David Marsh had died when she was six.
She remembered his laugh.
His terrible pancakes.
The way he carried her on his shoulders.
“He really was my father?”
“Yes.”
Adeline began crying from relief.
Elias closed his eyes.
For the first time all night, the controlled mafia boss looked shaken.
Claire continued.
“David discovered Vincent was investigating my connection to Roberto. We feared Vincent would target you if he knew you were David’s daughter because David had helped me hide Lorenzo.”
“So you made me look like a Ferrante?”
“Yes.”
“That seems more dangerous.”
“At the time, Roberto’s name protected people.”
Elias gave a humorless laugh.
“Apparently.”
Agent Doyle arranged immediate DNA testing.
No one wanted to wait.
The results came four hours later.
Adeline Marsh and Elias Ferrante shared no biological parent.
Zero sibling relationship.
Adeline read the result twice.
Then looked at Elias.
He stared at her.
Neither moved.
Lorenzo broke the silence.
“I feel like I should leave.”
Claire nodded quickly.
“Yes.”
Marco followed.
Even Doyle disappeared.
Soon only Elias and Adeline remained.
She held the DNA report.
“So.”
“So.”
“We’re not related.”
“No.”
“That’s good.”
“Extremely.”
She almost laughed.
Then her expression softened.
“Elias, what happens now?”
“With Vincent?”
“With us.”
He stepped closer.
“I don’t know.”
Her face fell slightly.
He continued.
“I know what I want.”
“What?”
“You.”
Adeline’s heartbeat changed.
“But I’m not going to tell you that you’re marrying me because I put a ring on your finger in a ballroom.”
“That’s surprisingly progressive.”
“I’m trying.”
She smiled.
He took her hand.
“Adeline, the next decision is yours.”
Before she could answer, Claire entered again.
“I’m sorry.”
Adeline sighed.
“Please tell me there isn’t another secret parent.”
“No.”
“Good.”
“This is worse.”
Adeline stared.
“How can it possibly be worse?”
Claire handed Elias a document recovered from the archive.
It was Roberto Ferrante’s final will.
Elias read it.
His expression hardened.
“What?”
Adeline asked.
He gave her the page.
Roberto had divided the Ferrante estate into three equal shares.
Elias.
Lorenzo.
And Claire Marsh.
Adeline looked at her mother.
“You inherited one-third?”
“I never claimed it.”
“Why?”
Claire swallowed.
“Because the inheritance came with a condition.”
“What condition?”
Claire looked at Elias.
“If Lorenzo ever returned, the three beneficiaries had to vote on who would control the Ferrante organization.”
Elias frowned.
“Why would my father do that?”
“Because he knew one of his sons might become corrupted by power.”
Lorenzo had returned to the doorway.
“And if neither son received Claire’s vote?”
Claire looked at them both.
“Control would pass to a fourth person.”
Elias’s voice became cold.
“Who?”
Claire pointed toward the final line.
Adeline read it aloud.
“Adeline Grace Marsh.”
She stared at her mother.
“I was five years old.”
May you like
Claire nodded.
“Roberto trusted the person you might become more than the men he already knew.”
