Vanessa's question followed me through the night.<\/p>\n
Why was Nathan suddenly questioning whether the baby was his?<\/p>\n
By morning, I had stopped trying to guess.<\/p>\n
I called Mara.<\/p>\n
She arrived with coffee and a single sentence.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon't confront him yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI wasn't planning to.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood. Because if Nathan is asking for a paternity test now, there is probably a reason.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa joined us later.<\/p>\n
She looked exhausted.<\/p>\n
\u201cI've never seen him like this,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow did he explain it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe wouldn't.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he accuse you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat may be worse.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa looked down at her hands.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked whether I'd been seeing anyone before we became involved.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him the truth.\u201d<\/p>\n
She hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was someone.\u201d<\/p>\n
My attention sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Nathan?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Nathan know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI told him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why ask now?\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa shook her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara asked whether Vanessa had received any medical records or messages from Nathan.<\/p>\n
She handed over her phone.<\/p>\n
There was a message from him sent at 2:08 that morning.<\/p>\n
I need you to be honest with me before the test.<\/p>\n
Vanessa had replied:<\/p>\n
I have been honest with you.<\/p>\n
Nathan had not responded.<\/p>\n
Samuel joined us by video later that afternoon.<\/p>\n
He had traced another series of Northbridge transactions.<\/p>\n
One payment had been made to a private genetic testing company.<\/p>\n
The appointment had been scheduled for the following week.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe paid for the test himself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy through Northbridge?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel shrugged.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause Northbridge was being used for almost everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara looked at the transaction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pointed to a second payment.<\/p>\n
Same company.<\/p>\n
Different patient code.<\/p>\n
\u201cTwo tests?\u201d<\/p>\n
Samuel nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cDifferent dates.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was the first?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan you find out?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot without legal process.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned back.<\/p>\n
Nathan had already suspected something before he told Vanessa.<\/p>\n
But that didn't explain why.<\/p>\n
Then Daniel called.<\/p>\n
He asked to meet me privately.<\/p>\n
I almost refused.<\/p>\n
Instead, I asked him to come to Mara's office.<\/p>\n
He arrived carrying a folder.<\/p>\n
\u201cI found this after the firm's investigators searched my office.\u201d<\/p>\n
He placed it on the table.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething Nathan gave me six months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
A printed email.<\/p>\n
Nathan had asked Daniel to locate someone named Marcus Hale.<\/p>\n
The message contained a photograph.<\/p>\n
A man in his early thirties.<\/p>\n
Vanessa's former boyfriend.<\/p>\n
I looked at Daniel.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy was Nathan investigating him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you ask?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me it was personal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say anything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
Then I noticed a line in the email.<\/p>\n
Find out whether Marcus had contact with Vanessa during the period between May and July.<\/p>\n
I checked the dates.<\/p>\n
They overlapped with the beginning of Vanessa's relationship with Nathan.<\/p>\n
I looked at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you still seeing Marcus?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbsolutely?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She closed her eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI ended things before I met Nathan.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shifted in his chair.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is more.\u201d<\/p>\n
He pulled out another document.<\/p>\n
It was a private investigator's report.<\/p>\n
Marcus had been followed.<\/p>\n
The report concluded that he had not contacted Vanessa during the relevant period.<\/p>\n
Nathan had known.<\/p>\n
He had already investigated the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo why ask for a paternity test?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
Then Samuel spoke.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe the test isn't about Vanessa.\u201d<\/p>\n
We looked at him.<\/p>\n
He enlarged a transaction record.<\/p>\n
The second genetic test had been paid for under a different name.<\/p>\n
Not Vanessa.<\/p>\n
Not Nathan.<\/p>\n
A company executive.<\/p>\n
Daniel.<\/p>\n
I stared.<\/p>\n
\u201cDaniel?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel's face went pale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn't take a test.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen someone used your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara looked at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Nathan ever ask for a biological sample?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel didn't answer.<\/p>\n
His silence was enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout four months ago, Nathan told me he needed a blood sample for a medical screening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel swallowed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said it was for an insurance requirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became silent.<\/p>\n
Nathan had obtained Daniel's biological material.<\/p>\n
Then he had paid for a genetic test under Daniel's identity.<\/p>\n
I looked at Vanessa.<\/p>\n
She looked confused.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would he need Daniel's DNA for?\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn't know.<\/p>\n
Samuel did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are several possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSuch as?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEstablishing biological relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mind moved quickly.<\/p>\n
The first test.<\/p>\n
The second test.<\/p>\n
Daniel's sample.<\/p>\n
Nathan's suspicion.<\/p>\n
The baby.<\/p>\n
Then I remembered something.<\/p>\n
At the firm, the paralegal had said:<\/p>\n
\u201cYour wife's baby shower.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had not said Vanessa's name.<\/p>\n
She had assumed the pregnant woman was Nathan's wife.<\/p>\n
That assumption had come from somewhere.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Nathan had told the firm that Vanessa was his wife because he needed her father's business.<\/p>\n
But that still didn't explain the DNA.<\/p>\n
Daniel looked sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe Nathan thought the baby was mine.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vanessa stared at him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniel shook his head.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don't know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never had an affair with me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
She looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mara interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet's not speculate.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned to Samuel.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan the testing company provide records under subpoena?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we do that.\u201d<\/p>\n
That evening, Nathan sent me an email.<\/p>\n
Claire,<\/p>\n
I know you have questions. There are things I should have told you sooner.<\/p>\n
I did not answer.<\/p>\n
Another email followed.<\/p>\n
Please do not assume the worst about the baby.<\/p>\n
I stared at that sentence.<\/p>\n
He knew exactly what I would assume.<\/p>\n
I forwarded both messages to Mara.<\/p>\n
The next morning, the firm's outside counsel contacted us.<\/p>\n
They had discovered that Nathan had used firm resources to obtain confidential information about Vanessa's former partner.<\/p>\n
More importantly, the firm had found an encrypted folder on Nathan's work computer.<\/p>\n
The folder was labeled \u201cC.\u201d<\/p>\n
Inside were documents relating to me.<\/p>\n
My financial records.<\/p>\n
My father's estate.<\/p>\n
The prenup.<\/p>\n
The private investigator reports.<\/p>\n
And one document dated three years earlier.<\/p>\n
A memorandum Nathan had written before our wedding.<\/p>\n
The first sentence read:<\/p>\n
If the marriage proceeds, Claire must not know the extent of her father's concerns about the Cartwright family.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
The second sentence was worse.<\/p>\n
Her inheritance should remain untouched until the equity vote.<\/p>\n
That meant Nathan had planned the secrecy from the beginning.<\/p>\n
But the next page contained something unexpected.<\/p>\n
Nathan had written:<\/p>\n
I love her. I do not want to use her. I need time to separate myself from my mother's influence.<\/p>\n
I read that sentence twice.<\/p>\n
For the first time, I saw evidence that Nathan had once understood what he was doing was wrong.<\/p>\n
He had known.<\/p>\n
He had simply kept choosing it.<\/p>\n
The final page contained a handwritten note.<\/p>\n
If I fail, Claire deserves the truth.<\/p>\n
I sat back.<\/p>\n
The note did not excuse him.<\/p>\n
But it changed something.<\/p>\n
Nathan had not been unaware.<\/p>\n
He had been conflicted.<\/p>\n
And then he had become exactly what he feared.<\/p>\n
Mara received another call.<\/p>\n
The genetic testing company had responded.<\/p>\n
The court order had revealed the identities associated with the two tests.<\/p>\n
One belonged to Nathan.<\/p>\n
The other belonged to Daniel.<\/p>\n
But the test result was not for Vanessa's baby.<\/p>\n
It was for someone else.<\/p>\n
Mara looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cClaire, the second test was conducted on a sample from a person who isn't currently identified in the records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe patient number belongs to a child.\u201d<\/p>\n
My heart stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cA child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose child?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what we're trying to establish.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then Mara placed another document on the table.<\/p>\n
The sample had been collected three years earlier.<\/p>\n
Three years.<\/p>\n
The same month Nathan and I were married.<\/p>\n
I stared at the date.<\/p>\n
Nathan had been conducting a genetic test involving a child before Vanessa became pregnant.<\/p>\n
And suddenly the question wasn't whether Vanessa's baby belonged to Nathan.<\/p>\n
The question was what child Nathan had been hiding for three years.<\/p>\n
Vanessa's question followed me through the night. Why was Nathan suddenly questioning whether the baby was his? By morning, I had stopped trying to guess. I called Mara. She arrived … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4429","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sharestory"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4429"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4441,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4429\/revisions\/4441"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4429"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4429"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/onesharedstory.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4429"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}