Chapter 3 - THE DNA TEST SOMEONE DIDN’T WANT
Daniel asked Marisol for a DNA test that night.
He did not demand it.
That mattered.
Celia had fallen asleep in one of the guest rooms after spending forty minutes assigning names to every carved animal on the antique bedframe. Peanut, her stuffed elephant, was tucked beneath one arm.
Marisol stood by the window.
“You believe me?”
Daniel sat opposite her.
“Yes.”
“Then why test?”
“Because this affects her legally.”
She folded her arms.
“Legally.”
“Trusts. Inheritance. Medical records. My name.”
“Your name has managed to survive without her.”
Daniel accepted the blow.
“This isn’t about me needing proof before I care.”
“Then say what it is about.”
He leaned forward.
“If something happens to you tomorrow, I currently have no legal right to protect her.”
Marisol’s expression changed.
He continued.
“If something happens to me, she could spend twenty years fighting people who would rather pretend she doesn’t exist.”
That landed differently.
Marisol looked toward the sleeping child.
“Your family?”
“My board.”
“Same thing?”
“Sometimes worse.”
She sat.
“What kind of test?”
“Independent laboratory. You choose it.”
“No Ashworth doctors?”
“No.”
“No company lawyers?”
“No.”
“No one gets the results except us?”
“Our attorneys if you approve.”
Marisol looked at him carefully.
“You have an attorney ready already?”
“I called one who specializes in family law.”
Her mouth tightened.
Daniel saw it.
“Not for custody.”
“You can say that now.”
“I can put it in writing.”
“You really do solve everything with paper.”
“I’m trying not to solve you.”
That stopped her.
Daniel added quietly, “I’m trying to stop making things worse.”
The next morning, Marisol chose a Manhattan laboratory.
Cheek swabs.
Ten minutes.
Celia thought it was funny.
“Daddy gets a toothbrush in his mouth?”
Daniel froze at the word.
Marisol did too.
Celia did not notice.
The technician smiled.
“Something like that.”
Daniel crouched.
“You can call me Daniel until we know.”
Celia frowned.
“But Mama said you’re my daddy.”
Marisol’s face burned.
“I said he might be.”
“No.”
Celia shook her head with absolute confidence.
“You said yes.”
Daniel looked at Marisol.
She looked away.
The technician rescued them.
“Open wide.”
They completed the test.
Results would take forty-eight hours.
Daniel wanted to ask for rush processing.
He stopped himself.
For once, faster was not necessarily better.
At Ashworth Capital, everything else was moving at catastrophic speed.
By noon, rumors of his broken engagement had reached the financial press.
By one, reporters were outside the estate.
By two, someone leaked that the breakup involved “a household employee and an alleged child.”
At three, Daniel’s chief legal officer entered his office and shut the door.
“We have a problem.”
Daniel looked up.
“Which one?”
Rebecca Cho placed a contract on his desk.
“The Greer partnership.”
Daniel’s expression cooled.
“What about it?”
“They’re threatening to suspend the New Haven financing.”
“Let them.”
“That project employs nine thousand people.”
Daniel stopped.
Rebecca continued.
“Richard Greer is claiming material nondisclosure.”
“Of what?”
“A potential heir.”
Daniel laughed without humor.
“I discovered Celia yesterday.”
“He says the relationship with Marisol occurred before the partnership documents were signed.”
“It did.”
“And if you fathered a child during that period, it may affect representations about family-controlled voting interests.”
Daniel stared at her.
“Those representations asked whether I had known descendants.”
“I didn’t know.”
“I agree.”
“So what’s the problem?”
“The problem is proving you didn’t know.”
Daniel leaned back.
Rebecca hesitated.
“There’s something else.”
“Say it.”
“Fiona filed a police report.”
Daniel went still.
“For what?”
“She says Marisol threatened her after the incident.”
For three seconds, Daniel said nothing.
Then he stood.
“What?”
“Fiona claims Marisol became aggressive when Fiona asked the child to leave the piano.”
Daniel’s face hardened.
“She pushed Celia.”
“I know what you told me.”
“I saw the child on the floor.”
“That isn’t the same as seeing the push.”
Daniel stared at her.
Rebecca held his gaze.
“I believe you. A prosecutor will ask what you actually witnessed.”
Daniel remembered.
He entered after the fall.
He heard the last exchange.
But he had not seen Fiona’s hand make contact.
“Marisol says she saw it.”
“She did.”
“And Fiona says Marisol is lying.”
“Yes.”
Daniel looked out over Manhattan.
“This isn’t about a police report.”
“No.”
“It’s leverage.”
“Yes.”
“Greer wants me to question Marisol.”
Rebecca said nothing.
Daniel’s jaw tightened.
“He wants her to look unstable before the DNA comes back.”
“That would help him.”
Daniel reached for his coat.
“Where are you going?”
“To tell Marisol before someone else does.”
He found her at a laundromat in Yonkers.
Not because she had chosen somewhere dramatic.
Because the washer in her apartment building had been broken for four days.
Daniel stood beside three plastic baskets containing Celia’s tiny clothes and felt something inside him twist.
Marisol saw him.
“What happened?”
He told her.
She listened without speaking.
When he finished, she laughed.
It was not amused.
“Of course.”
“I have attorneys ready.”
“There it is again.”
“To protect you.”
“From your ex-fiancée.”
“From a false allegation.”
Marisol shoved wet clothes into a dryer.
“I watched her put her hand on my daughter.”
“I believe you.”
“You didn’t see it.”
“I believe you.”
She stopped.
Daniel stepped closer.
“I’m not going to make you prove everything before I stand beside you.”
Marisol looked at him.
“That’s a very expensive promise.”
“It costs nothing.”
“No. It could cost you billions.”
He glanced at the dryer.
“I’ve spent my life learning that the most expensive things usually aren’t the ones with prices.”
Marisol’s expression softened.
Then her phone rang.
Unknown number.
She answered.
“Hello?”
Silence.
Then a woman’s voice.
“Ms. Vega?”
“Yes?”
“This is Dr. Helen Ward from St. Catherine’s Hospital.”
Marisol’s face changed.
Daniel noticed.
“We’re reviewing archived birth records as part of a documentation request concerning Celia Vega.”
Marisol stiffened.
“What documentation request?”
“A subpoena inquiry.”
Daniel moved closer.
The doctor continued.
“There appears to be an irregularity in your daughter’s original hospital record.”
Marisol’s fingers tightened around the phone.
“What kind?”
“Her paternal information was accessed and amended three days after her birth.”
Marisol looked at Daniel.
“I never listed a father.”
“That is why we’re calling.”
Daniel’s blood went cold.
“Put her on speaker.”
Marisol did.
Daniel introduced himself.
Dr. Ward hesitated.
Then said, “Mr. Ashworth, the access credentials belonged to someone affiliated with your family office.”
The laundromat suddenly seemed silent.
Daniel’s voice lowered.
“Whose?”
“I can’t release the name without authorization.”
“I’ll authorize whatever you need.”
“We’ll send the records to counsel.”
The call ended.
Marisol stared at him.
“Someone from your family knew?”
“I don’t know.”
“My daughter was three days old.”
“I know.”
“She was three days old and someone connected to you accessed her birth record?”
“I know.”
Marisol backed away.
“No.”
“Marisol.”
“No.”
Fear replaced anger.
“This is exactly why I didn’t tell you.”
“I didn’t do this.”
“I know.”
That surprised him.
She pressed both hands against her face.
“That’s worse.”
Daniel understood.
If he had not known about Celia, someone else had.
Someone had known for three years.
And done nothing.
His phone rang.
Rebecca.
He answered.
Her voice was urgent.
“Daniel, don’t leave Marisol alone.”
“Why?”
“The lab called.”
He looked at Marisol.
“What about the DNA?”
“Someone attempted to cancel the test.”
His expression went cold.
“Who?”
“They used your executive authorization code.”
Daniel stopped breathing.
Only four people had access to that code.
Daniel.
Rebecca.
His chief financial officer.
And his father.
Charles Ashworth.
Daniel had not spoken to his father in six months.
He looked at Marisol.
She read the answer in his face.
“Who?”
May you like
Daniel’s voice was nearly a whisper.
“My father.”
