Chapter 8 - THE BLOOD TEST
Vincent wanted to drive to Newport immediately.
Rachel stopped him.
“She wants you angry.”
“She has Paul.”
“She has everyone eventually.”
Nora stared at Evelyn.
“Who is my father?”
Evelyn signed:
Michael Quinn.
Rachel shook her head.
“No.”
Evelyn glared.
Rachel opened another file.
“I tested Nora’s DNA.”
Nora snapped toward her.
“You what?”
“The glass you left at Bellweather.”
“That is completely insane.”
“Yes.”
Rachel looked at Vincent.
“But useful.”
She placed the results on the desk.
Nora was related to Evelyn.
Maternal relationship strongly supported.
That part was true.
Paternal markers produced something else.
Nora shared enough genetic material with Vincent to suggest a closer relationship than half siblings through Evelyn alone.
Vincent frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Rachel answered.
“Nora’s father was related to your father.”
Silence.
Marcus cursed.
Nora looked at Evelyn.
Her face had gone white.
Vincent’s voice lowered.
“Ma.”
Evelyn’s hands began trembling.
Nora watched.
No.
“Don’t say no.”
Evelyn signed again.
I didn’t know.
Rachel’s expression changed.
“You suspected.”
Evelyn covered her face.
Nora felt sick.
“Who?”
Marcus looked toward the window.
Vincent stared at Rachel.
“Who was Michael Quinn?”
Rachel answered.
“A false name.”
Nora’s stomach dropped.
Rachel slid an old photograph across the desk.
Young Evelyn.
Seventeen.
Beside her stood a handsome dark-haired man.
Nora recognized the Caldero eyes instantly.
Vincent whispered:
“Raymond.”
Nora could not move.
“No.”
Evelyn began signing desperately.
She had known him as Michael Quinn.
He claimed he was from Boston.
He courted her for months.
Only after she became pregnant did she discover his real identity.
Raymond Caldero.
Her future husband’s brother.
Vincent looked horrified.
“My uncle is Nora’s father?”
Evelyn nodded.
Nora walked away from the table.
Rachel followed.
“Don’t.”
Nora turned.
“You knew?”
“For three days.”
“And you waited?”
“I needed proof.”
Nora laughed bitterly.
“Everyone in this story needs proof after they’ve already destroyed somebody.”
The phone rang again.
Margaret.
Nora answered.
“What do you want?”
Margaret sounded amused.
“To correct history.”
“You mean manipulate it.”
“Your mother was not Raymond’s victim.”
Nora looked at Evelyn.
Margaret continued.
“She loved him.”
Evelyn shook her head violently.
“You can ask her why she married Antonio instead.”
Nora said nothing.
Margaret answered for her.
“Because she was pregnant with Raymond’s child, and Antonio agreed to protect her.”
Vincent closed his eyes.
Another family lie.
Antonio had known Nora existed before she was born.
He had married Evelyn partly to protect her from scandal and from Raymond.
Then Raymond arranged for Nora to disappear at birth.
Not because he hated Evelyn.
Because Margaret ordered it.
“Why?” Nora asked.
“Because Raymond had already been promised another marriage.”
Margaret’s tone remained calm.
“Politics required cleanliness.”
Nora wanted to throw the phone.
Instead, she asked, “Why keep me alive?”
A pause.
Then Margaret said something that changed the room.
“Because you were useful.”
Rachel’s expression tightened.
“What does that mean?”
Margaret continued.
“The Caldero trust has a clause Antonio never understood.”
Vincent frowned.
“What clause?”
“A child born from two bloodlines connected to the founding families can challenge ownership of the entire legitimate Caldero estate.”
Nora laughed in disbelief.
“This is about money?”
“No.”
Margaret sounded almost offended.
“It is about control.”
The line went silent for a second.
Then Paul screamed in the background.
Nora gripped the phone.
“What did you do?”
Margaret answered:
“Come to Newport before midnight.”
“Why?”
“Because Raymond has finally become inconvenient.”
Vincent looked at Rachel.
Margaret continued.
“And because if you don’t come, he will kill Paul.”
Nora’s voice became cold.
“And if I do?”
May you like
Margaret smiled through the phone.
“Then I’ll tell you which one of your sisters is still alive.”
