Chapter 8 — The DNA Report
Chapter 8 — The DNA Report
The voice in the darkness was impossible.
My mother.
Alive.
For one heartbeat, I couldn't move.
Then the emergency lights flickered on.
A woman stood at the far end of the room.
She was older than the woman in my childhood photographs, of course.
Her hair was streaked with silver.
Her face was thinner.
But her eyes—
I knew those eyes.
My knees nearly gave out.
“Mom?”
She looked at me.
Tears filled her eyes.
“Olivia.”
Ryan stood beside me, completely frozen.
The woman turned toward him.
“And Ryan.”
He stared at her.
“Who are you?”
Her expression broke.
“I'm your mother.”
Ryan shook his head.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“My mother died.”
“No.”
Margaret was still outside the locked door.
She was pounding against it.
“Olivia! Don't listen to her!”
My mother looked toward the door.
Her expression hardened.
“Of course she'd say that.”
I stepped closer.
“Why did you let us believe you were dead?”
She looked at me.
“Because I had to.”
“For twenty years?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Her voice trembled.
“Because if they knew I was alive, they would have killed both of you.”
Ryan finally spoke.
“Who?”
She looked at him.
“Your father.”
Silence.
Then she added:
“And the woman who replaced me.”
Margaret.
I turned toward the door.
“Open it.”
My mother shook her head.
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because Margaret isn't alone.”
I frowned.
“What does that mean?”
“She never was.”
The Woman Who Survived
My mother introduced herself as Clara.
The name sounded strange.
My mother had always been called Elena.
Or at least, that was what I had been told.
I stared at her.
“Is your name Clara or Elena?”
She smiled sadly.
“Both.”
I didn't understand.
“Your father called me Elena.”
She touched her chest.
“But I was born Clara Vale.”
My heart raced.
Vale.
The same surname connected to Margaret.
To Eleanor.
To the mysterious woman who had hired Vanessa.
“Are you related to Margaret?”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“My father and Margaret's father were brothers.”
I stared.
That made us all part of the same bloodline.
Guardian wasn't simply a business network.
It was a family structure.
A dynasty.
My mother looked at Ryan.
“You need to know something.”
“What?”
“You aren't Richard's son.”
Ryan went completely still.
“I know.”
“No.”
She shook her head.
“You don't know the whole truth.”
She reached into her coat and pulled out a sealed envelope.
“This is why I came back.”
She handed it to me.
“DNA results.”
My hands trembled.
“Whose?”
“Yours.”
I opened the envelope.
There were three reports.
Mine.
Ryan's.
And another sample.
I looked at the first page.
OLIVIA VALE — BIOLOGICAL PARENTAGE CONFIRMED.
My mother's name appeared.
My father's name appeared.
I turned to Ryan's report.
My eyes moved down the page.
Then stopped.
PATERNAL MATCH: NOT RICHARD ANDERSON.
Ryan closed his eyes.
I looked at the percentage.
99.98% probability of biological relationship with Daniel Vale.
I couldn't breathe.
Daniel.
The man who had walked into our mansion.
The man who claimed to know our family's secrets.
The man who had hired Vanessa.
I looked at my mother.
“Daniel is Ryan's father?”
She nodded.
Ryan staggered backward.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“That's impossible.”
“He was your biological father.”
“Then why did Richard raise me?”
“Because Richard wanted Guardian.”
Ryan stared at the report.
“And Daniel?”
“He wanted you alive.”
A voice came from outside the door.
Daniel.
“She's telling the truth.”
Everyone froze.
I turned.
“Daniel?”
His voice came through the door.
“I never wanted you to know this way.”
Ryan walked toward the door.
“You're my father?”
“Yes.”
Ryan's breathing became ragged.
“You watched me grow up.”
“I did.”
“You let me believe you were a stranger.”
“I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because Richard would have killed you.”
Ryan's fists clenched.
“You could have come for me.”
“I tried.”
“Then why didn't you?”
Silence.
Finally Daniel said:
“Because your mother asked me not to.”
Ryan turned toward Clara.
“Why?”
She looked at him.
“Because you weren't the only child I had to protect.”
She looked at me.
“I had two.”
The Third Report
I looked at the third DNA report.
“Whose sample is this?”
My mother didn't answer.
“Mom.”
She closed her eyes.
“Your father.”
My heart stopped.
“But he's dead.”
“He isn't.”
I stared at her.
“Then why does this report exist?”
“Because someone recently collected his DNA.”
“When?”
“Six months ago.”
I looked at the date.
Six months ago.
That was when everything had started changing.
Ryan had become distant.
Margaret had become increasingly aggressive.
Vanessa had appeared.
The asset transfers had begun.
Someone had been preparing for this.
I looked at the report.
Then at my mother.
“Where is he?”
She whispered:
“Here.”
I turned.
A shadow stood behind the door.
The door opened.
And a man stepped into the room.
Older.
His hair almost completely gray.
A scar ran across his cheek.
But I knew him.
I knew that face.
Every childhood photograph.
Every memory.
Every dream in which I begged him to come home.
My father.
Alive.
“Olivia.”
I couldn't breathe.
“Dad?”
He nodded.
Tears filled his eyes.
“I'm sorry.”
I stared at him.
“You let me believe you were dead.”
“Yes.”
“For eight years.”
“Yes.”
“You watched me mourn you.”
His face collapsed.
“I had no choice.”
I slapped him.
The sound echoed through the room.
He didn't defend himself.
“Don't ever tell me you had no choice.”
My voice broke.
“You all had choices.”
I pointed at Ryan.
“You lied to him.”
I pointed at my mother.
“You disappeared.”
Then toward Daniel.
“You watched.”
Finally, I pointed at my father.
“And you let me bury you.”
He lowered his head.
“I know.”
I cried.
Not because I was relieved.
Because I was furious.
The Real DNA Test
My father placed another folder on the table.
“This is the test that matters.”
I opened it.
It wasn't a paternity test.
It was a genetic inheritance analysis.
My eyes scanned the first page.
Then the second.
Then the third.
I looked up.
“What am I reading?”
My father answered:
“Guardian doesn't pass through ordinary inheritance.”
“Then how?”
“Through a genetic sequence.”
Ryan frowned.
“A genetic sequence?”
“Yes.”
My father pointed to the report.
“Your grandfather created Guardian using a biological authentication system.”
I stared.
“The founder's bloodline is the only thing capable of activating full control.”
“Who has it?”
My father looked at me.
“You.”
I froze.
Then he looked at Ryan.
“And him.”
I shook my head.
“Both?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because you're twins.”
I stared at the report.
“We don't have the same biological father.”
“No.”
“Then how can we both have the sequence?”
My father looked at my mother.
She finally spoke.
“Because the sequence came from me.”
I didn't understand.
“My family carried it.”
She looked at Ryan.
“And Daniel's blood completed it.”
My heart raced.
“So Ryan can activate Guardian.”
“Yes.”
“And I can?”
“Yes.”
“Then why was the marriage necessary?”
My father sighed.
“Because the founder created a final safeguard.”
“What safeguard?”
“Neither twin can activate full control alone.”
I looked at Ryan.
“You need each other.”
“Yes.”
“And the seventh anniversary?”
“That's the activation date.”
Everything clicked.
The marriage wasn't about producing an heir.
It wasn't even about inheritance.
It was designed to bring the two heirs together.
The child who was hidden.
And the child who inherited the trust.
Us.
Vanessa's Real Purpose
I suddenly remembered Vanessa.
“Where is she?”
Ryan looked at me.
“She's upstairs.”
I went to find her.
She was sitting on the bed, crying.
I showed her the DNA report.
“Did you know?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Did Eleanor know?”
“I don't know.”
“Who told you to fake the pregnancy?”
Vanessa wiped her eyes.
“Daniel.”
I looked at her.
“Why?”
“He said he needed to make sure you stayed married to Ryan.”
That changed everything.
“Daniel wasn't trying to break us apart.”
“No.”
“He was trying to force the truth out.”
“Yes.”
“But Margaret used the same plan against me.”
Vanessa nodded.
“They both used me.”
“Why did you keep going?”
She looked at me.
“Because Eleanor threatened my family.”
I froze.
“Eleanor.”
“Yes.”
“Where is she?”
Vanessa shook her head.
“I don't know.”
I looked at her.
“Then tell me what you do know.”
She whispered:
“She isn't Eleanor.”
My heart stopped.
“What?”
“The woman who hired me isn't Eleanor Vale.”
“Then who is she?”
Vanessa looked terrified.
“I heard someone call her by another name.”
“What name?”
Vanessa swallowed.
“Margaret.”
Silence.
I stared at her.
“What?”
“She called her Margaret.”
“But Margaret is here.”
Vanessa shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice trembled.
“The woman who hired me called herself Margaret too.”
I felt a chill.
“There are two Margarets?”
Vanessa nodded.
“One is your mother-in-law.”
“And the other?”
“I don't know.”
The Report That Changed Everything
We returned to the study.
My father had placed all the DNA reports on the desk.
He looked at Ryan.
“There's one final result.”
Ryan frowned.
“What?”
My father slid the document toward him.
“Your DNA doesn't just match Daniel.”
Ryan looked down.
“It matches another man.”
“Who?”
My father looked at me.
“Richard Anderson.”
Ryan stared.
“But you said he wasn't my father.”
“He isn't your biological father.”
“Then why does the DNA match?”
My father's expression became grim.
“Because Richard had an identical twin.”
Silence.
I stared.
“Who?”
My father didn't answer.
Daniel did.
“Michael Anderson.”
Ryan looked confused.
“Who is Michael?”
Daniel's face hardened.
“Richard's twin brother.”
“Where is he?”
“Dead.”
“When?”
“Twenty years ago.”
My mother whispered:
“No.”
Everyone turned.
She was staring at the report.
“This isn't Michael's DNA.”
My father looked at her.
“Then whose is it?”
She pointed to the final page.
“This.”
I read the name.
My heart stopped.
MARGARET VALE.
The DNA report showed a biological relationship between Ryan and Margaret.
But not maternal.
Paternal.
I looked at Ryan.
Then at Margaret.
Then at my father.
“What does this mean?”
My father whispered:
“Ryan isn't just the missing heir.”
He swallowed.
“He is the child Margaret spent twenty years trying to hide.”
Margaret suddenly appeared in the doorway.
Her face was completely emotionless.
“You weren't supposed to find that.”
I stepped toward her.
“You're his biological mother.”
She shook her head.
“No.”
“Then why does the DNA say otherwise?”
She stared at Ryan.
Then finally whispered:
“Because I am not Margaret Anderson.”
Ryan's face went pale.
“Then who are you?”
She looked at me.
And smiled.
“My name is Eleanor.”
The room went silent.
The woman everyone believed had died twelve years ago had been living inside our mansion for twenty years.
And she had been pretending to be someone else.
But before anyone could move, my father's phone rang.
He answered.
His expression changed.
“What?”
He listened.
Then looked at me.
“The seventh-year activation has started.”
I frowned.
“But the anniversary is tomorrow.”
He shook his head.
“No.”
He looked at Ryan.
“It started the moment the DNA was verified.”
Then every screen in the mansion turned on simultaneously.
A single message appeared:
TWO HEIRS. ONE CROWN.
May you like
Beneath it:
ONLY ONE WILL SURVIVE.
