Chapter 13: The Bloodline Lie
I stared at the DNA report until the numbers blurred.
*Probability of paternity: 0.00%.*
The tested man was Victor Lang.
Not Arthur Carter.
I looked at Ethan.
He hadn't moved.
"Is this real?""
His jaw tightened.
"Yes.""
"You're Victor's son?""
He nodded once.
For a moment, I couldn't understand why he had lied. Then I remembered every conversation, every carefully chosen word, every time he had described my father as someone who owed him something.
"You knew.""
"I found out six years ago.""
"And you let me believe we were brothers.""
"I wanted you to believe we had a reason to work together.""
"Work together?"" I laughed.
"You used my family, my girlfriend, and my father's death to get control of his land.""
Ethan's expression hardened.
"Your father wasn't innocent, Marcus.""
"Neither are you.""
Helen stepped between us.
"Nobody leaves until we establish where this document came from.""
Ethan looked at her.
"Ask Naomi. She has the original.""
My phone rang.
Naomi.
I answered on speaker.
"Where did you get the DNA report?""
"From my mother's safe.""
"Is it authentic?""
"Yes. I had it independently verified this morning.""
Ethan shook his head.
"Your mother has been lying to you for years.""
Naomi's voice sharpened.
"At least I know who my father is.""
Ethan went still.
I looked at him.
"What does that mean?""
Naomi continued.
"Margaret isn't my biological mother either.""
Silence filled the room.
"What?""
"My birth records were altered. My biological mother was Catherine Carter.""
I felt the words strike me one at a time.
Catherine.
My mother.
Naomi was my mother's daughter?
"You're saying we're related?""
"Yes," Naomi whispered.
"We have the same mother.""
I couldn't move.
Eight years.
Eight years together, and neither of us had known.
Ethan laughed bitterly.
"Now you understand why I chose her.""
I turned toward him.
"Why?""
"Because Naomi was the easiest way to get close to you. Margaret knew who she was. She knew Catherine had left another child behind.""
Naomi began crying.
"I didn't know, Marcus. I swear I didn't.""
I believed her.
Not because she deserved forgiveness.
Because I knew what it felt like to discover your entire life had been arranged by someone else's secrets.
Helen took the DNA report.
"We need the original records. And we need Catherine.""
Ethan moved toward the door.
Helen's investigator stepped into his path.
"You're not leaving.""
Ethan looked at me.
"Your mother is not going to tell you everything.""
"Then I'll ask her myself.""
He smiled without warmth.
"You think she's been waiting twenty years to hug you? She has been protecting herself.""
"Maybe she had to.""
"Ask her what happened to the money.""
I stepped closer.
"Which money?""
"The six-million-dollar account. It wasn't just a community reserve. It was a payment fund. Your mother controlled it.""
Helen interrupted.
"That's enough.""
But Ethan wasn't finished.
"Ask her who authorized the transfers. Ask her why Arthur's signature appears on documents he never signed.""
He looked at me.
"And ask her why Margaret raised Naomi.""
Then he walked out.
The investigator followed him.
Helen immediately contacted the authorities and requested that the DNA report and the original trust documents be preserved.
Naomi arrived twenty minutes later.
She looked exhausted.
I didn't know what to say to her.
She approached slowly.
"I never knew Catherine was my mother.""
"How long have you suspected?""
"Since yesterday. My mother left a birth certificate in the safe. It had Catherine's name crossed out and Margaret's written over it.""
I looked at her.
"Why did Margaret raise you?""
"She said Catherine couldn't.""
"Why?""
Naomi's eyes filled.
"Because Catherine was being watched. She believed that if both children stayed with her, Victor would find us.""
I looked at Helen.
She had stopped writing.
"Both children," I repeated.
Naomi nodded.
"She gave you to Arthur. Margaret took me.""
I turned away.
The woman I had planned to marry had been my sister all along.
It was too much to absorb.
Naomi reached for my hand, then stopped.
"I'm sorry.""
I didn't answer.
Helen's phone rang.
She listened, then looked at me.
"The investigator has located a property matching the address in your mother's letter.""
"Is she there?""
"We don't know. But a woman using the name Catherine Ellis has been receiving mail there.""
I grabbed my coat.
Helen caught my arm.
"Marcus, listen. We don't know who else is watching that property.""
"Then we go carefully.""
She nodded.
We drove toward the coast with Naomi following in a separate car.
The house stood beyond a narrow lane, surrounded by wind-bent trees.
A light burned in the front window.
I stepped onto the porch.
My hand hovered above the doorbell.
Then the door opened.
A woman stood there.
Older.
Thinner.
Her hair almost entirely gray.
But her eyes were the same.
The same eyes I remembered from childhood.
She looked at me.
And whispered my name.
"Marcus.""
I couldn't move.
She reached toward my face.
"My beautiful boy.""
I stepped back.
"You're alive.""
Tears filled her eyes.
"Yes.""
"Why did you let me believe you were dead?""
She looked past me toward Helen and Naomi.
Then her expression changed.
"Because I thought it was the only way to keep you safe.""
I held up the DNA report.
"Did you know Ethan was Victor's son?""
She nodded.
"Yes.""
"Did you know Naomi was your daughter?""
Her eyes filled again.
"Yes.""
I looked at Naomi.
My mother reached for her.
"Naomi...""
Naomi began crying.
For a moment, the three of us stood on the porch, surrounded by twenty years of silence.
Then my mother looked at me.
"There's something you must understand before you decide whether to forgive me.""
"What?""
She glanced toward the road.
"Arthur didn't die because of Victor.""
My stomach tightened.
"Who killed him?""
She stepped aside, revealing a small table inside the house.
On it lay a photograph.
My father.
My mother.
Margaret.
And Robert.
All standing together in front of the repair shop.
On the back, my mother's handwriting read:
*The night Arthur died, one of these people helped the killer enter the building.*
May you like
She looked directly at me.
"And I know which one.""
