Chapter 3 - THE DNA TEST“No.”
Richard’s answer came so quickly that several people in the ballroom visibly relaxed.
I didn’t.
Neither did Ethan.
Victoria folded her arms.
“Then explain it.”
Richard looked at her with an exhaustion that seemed decades old.
“You’ve waited twenty years to twist this story. Don’t start tonight.”
“You did that yourself.”
Ethan stepped between them.
“Enough. Dad, tell us what happened.”
Richard glanced around the ballroom.
“We should leave.”
This time I agreed.
Not because I wanted to protect Victoria.
Because I could no longer stand being watched.
Security escorted us into a private conference room behind the ballroom.
Only five people entered.
Victoria.
Richard.
Ethan.
Me.
And Daniel Pierce, the Ashford family attorney.
The moment the door closed, I turned to Richard.
“Were you having an affair with my mother?”
“No.”
Victoria laughed.
Richard ignored her.
“I met Linda because she was working at St. Matthew’s.”
“My mother never worked at St. Matthew’s.”
“She volunteered there.”
I frowned.
I had never heard that.
Richard sat down.
“In 2005, the Ashford Foundation funded a program for families of children with serious illnesses.”
My anger softened slightly despite myself.
“What does that have to do with my mother?”
“Your mother had a younger sister.”
I stared at him.
“My mother was an only child.”
“No.”
The word came from Victoria.
She was standing near the window.
“Linda had a younger sister named Rebecca.”
I couldn’t process it.
Everything I knew about my mother was being dismantled sentence by sentence.
Richard continued.
“Rebecca was seventeen. She was receiving treatment at St. Matthew’s.”
“For what?”
“Leukemia.”
I sat down.
Richard rubbed both hands across his face.
“She died that year.”
I had never heard the name Rebecca in my life.
“Why would my mother hide her own sister?”
“Because of what happened afterward.”
Ethan sat beside me.
He didn’t touch me.
He seemed afraid I would move away.
I probably would have.
Richard continued.
“Rebecca had become pregnant shortly before her diagnosis.”
My eyes moved to Victoria.
Something about her expression changed.
Not guilt.
Something closer to dread.
Richard looked down.
“The father was my younger brother.”
Ethan stared.
“Uncle Thomas?”
Richard nodded.
Thomas Ashford had died in a boating accident before Ethan was born.
The family rarely spoke about him.
There were photographs of him at the Ashford estate—a handsome young man with Ethan’s dark hair and reckless smile.
Richard continued.
“Thomas was twenty-one. Rebecca was seventeen.”
My throat tightened.
“They were together?”
“For months.”
“Did Mom know?”
“Yes.”
“Did you?”
“Not until Rebecca became ill.”
Victoria snapped, “Richard.”
He looked at her.
“No more.”
She went silent.
“Thomas wanted to marry Rebecca,” Richard said. “My parents were furious. Your grandmother was terrified of scandal. The Ashford family was negotiating a major merger at the time. Thomas was supposed to marry someone whose family was connected to the company.”
I looked at Victoria.
“You?”
Her eyes flashed.
“No.”
Richard shook his head.
“Victoria was already with me.”
“Then what happened to Rebecca’s baby?”
Nobody answered.
I felt cold.
“Richard.”
He looked at me.
“The baby survived.”
“Where is it?”
He swallowed.
“That’s where everything became complicated.”
Victoria walked toward the table.
“Complicated? That’s what you call it?”
“What would you call it?”
“A disaster.”
Ethan slammed his palm against the table.
“Stop talking in riddles.”
Richard flinched.
Then he looked at me again.
“Rebecca gave birth prematurely.”
“When?”
“December 2005.”
I was born in January 2006.
One month later.
Richard continued.
“Rebecca died six weeks later.”
My head spun.
“And the baby?”
“Was adopted.”
“By whom?”
Richard looked at Victoria.
She refused to answer.
Then I knew.
“My parents.”
Richard nodded.
The floor seemed to disappear beneath me.
“My parents adopted Rebecca’s baby?”
“Yes.”
“Who was it?”
Richard’s eyes filled with tears.
“You.”
Silence.
I couldn’t even hear the muffled music outside anymore.
I stared at him.
“No.”
“Claire—”
“My birth certificate says Linda and Paul Bennett.”
“Because they legally adopted you.”
I stood.
“No.”
Ethan rose too.
“Claire.”
I pushed my chair away.
“My mother is my aunt?”
“Yes.”
“And Thomas Ashford…”
Richard’s voice cracked.
“Was your biological father.”
I turned toward Ethan.
His uncle.
That meant Ethan and I—
I covered my mouth.
Ethan went pale.
Daniel Pierce finally spoke.
“Legally and genetically, you’re first cousins.”
I thought I might be sick.
Ethan grabbed the back of a chair.
Victoria whispered, “Now you understand.”
I looked at her.
“You knew before we married.”
“Yes.”
“And you said nothing.”
“I tried to stop you.”
“You called me trash.”
“I tried everything.”
“You could have told us the truth!”
“And destroy my husband’s family? Destroy Linda’s life? Destroy yours?”
“You let us get married!”
“I begged Ethan not to marry you.”
“But you never told him why!”
Victoria’s control finally broke.
“Because your mother made me promise!”
I froze.
“My mother?”
“She begged us never to tell you.”
“Why?”
“Because she was terrified you would learn how the Ashfords treated Rebecca.”
Richard stood.
“That wasn’t us.”
Victoria rounded on him.
“Your parents forced a dying seventeen-year-old girl to sign documents giving up her baby!”
Ethan looked sick.
Richard shook his head.
“My parents did that. I didn’t.”
“And you protected them!”
“I was twenty-six!”
“You were old enough to know better.”
I stared at Victoria.
For the first time, I realized her anger was not entirely about me.
It was about history.
Fear.
A secret that had poisoned two families for decades.
Still, one fact remained.
“You knew.”
She looked at me.
“Yes.”
“You watched Ethan marry me while knowing we were related.”
She closed her eyes.
“I thought Linda would stop the wedding.”
“My mother?”
“She promised she would.”
My chest tightened.
My mother had walked me down the aisle beside my father.
She had kissed my cheek.
She had cried when Ethan placed the ring on my finger.
And she had known.
I pulled out my phone.
Ethan stepped closer.
“What are you doing?”
“Calling her.”
It rang three times.
Then my mother answered.
“Claire? How was the gala?”
I couldn’t speak at first.
Then I asked one question.
“Who was Rebecca?”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Not surprise.
Silence.
Finally my mother whispered, “Where are you?”
My knees weakened.
“So it’s true.”
“Claire, please.”
“You’re my aunt.”
She began crying.
That confirmed everything.
I ended the call.
Ethan stared at the floor.
“We need a DNA test.”
Daniel nodded.
“That would be advisable.”
Victoria laughed bitterly.
“A DNA test won’t change history.”
“No,” I said.
I looked directly at her.
“But it may expose exactly how much of your story is true.”
Something flickered across her face.
That tiny reaction was enough.
Richard saw it too.
He stepped toward his wife.
“Victoria?”
She looked away.
Richard’s eyes narrowed.
“What else are you hiding?”
May you like
She said nothing.
And suddenly I realized the woman who had just revealed the ugliest truth of my life was still protecting something worse.
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