Chapter 4: The House of Cards
The DNA test arrived the next morning.
Daniel opened the envelope with trembling fingers. Victoria stood over his shoulder, her breath held.
Match Probability: 0.00%.
Daniel froze. He looked at the paper, then at Emily. "This... this is impossible."
Emily’s face went pale. "What? That can't be."
Victoria let out a sigh of relief. "Oh, you poor, foolish girl. I suppose you really believed your own lie, didn't you? Daniel, how much money has she already asked for?"
"None," Daniel said, his voice flat. He was staring at the paper. His brain was telling him one thing, but his gut was screaming another. He looked at the document, really looked at it, and noticed something. The stamp was authentic, but the signature of the lab director... it was slightly off. He knew the director; they played golf together.
"This isn't real," Daniel whispered.
"Don't be delusional," Victoria snapped.
"I'm not," Daniel said. He stood up, his height giving him an aura of terrifying power. He picked up the phone. "Get me the lab director. Now."
He dialed the number, put it on speaker.
"Hello?" the director’s voice came through.
"George, it's Daniel Hale. I'm looking at my results. Can you confirm the signature?"
"Daniel? I'm not in the office. I'm in London for a conference. I haven't signed anything in three days."
Silence descended on the room.
Victoria’s composure shattered. "He's lying! He’s covering for you!"
"No," Daniel said, turning to his wife. His eyes were cold, dead things. "He’s not. But you, Victoria... you have some explaining to do."
He walked to the computer, logged into his secure account, and pulled up the security footage from the clinic. He watched the grainy video until he saw the man in the dark suit bump into Emily.
"You didn't just manipulate the test," Daniel realized, his voice trembling with rage. "You had a sample swapped. You had her bag tagged. You’ve been following her."
Victoria stood backed against the wall. "I did it for us! For our family!"
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"We don't have a family," Daniel said. "We never did."
