Chapter 2: The Crimson Web
The suspension was a blessing and a curse. Confined to her tiny, one-bedroom apartment on the outskirts of the city, Elara felt like a caged animal. She spent her days organizing her mother’s old medical bills, the crushing weight of her grief resurfacing now that she didn't have the distraction of twelve-hour hospital shifts.
Meanwhile, within the gilded walls of the Vance corporate empire, a silent war was being waged.
Julian had ordered a discreet, top-tier DNA test. He sent his personal, trusted physician to Elara’s apartment to collect a swab, and took one from his mother. The samples were sent to the most secure lab in the state.
But Julian underestimated his wife.
Victoria Vance had spent fifteen years clawing her way to the top of the social ladder. She had endured Julian’s coldness and his obsessive work ethic because she was the sole beneficiary of the Vance estate. With Eleanor’s health declining and Clara presumed dead, Victoria was poised to inherit billions. The sudden appearance of a legitimate, blood-tied heir was an apocalyptic threat to her empire.
Late on a Tuesday night, Victoria sat in the darkened back seat of a black town car, parked in an abandoned alley behind the DNA testing facility. A man in a white lab coat scurried out of the service door, clutching a heavy manila envelope. He looked terrified.
Victoria rolled down her tinted window just enough to slide a thick, banded stack of hundred-dollar bills through the crack.
"Is it done, Dr. Harris?" Victoria asked, her voice silky and lethal.
The lab technician wiped sweat from his forehead. "Yes, Mrs. Vance. I altered the digital sequence before it was compiled into the final report. The official document will show a zero percent probability of a biological relationship between Eleanor Vance and the girl. But... if Mr. Vance asks for a secondary run—"
"He won't," Victoria interrupted, her eyes flashing in the darkness. "Julian trusts the data. He is a creature of logic. Once he sees the negative result, he will destroy the girl himself. And if you ever breathe a word of this to anyone, Dr. Harris, I will ensure your medical license is revoked and your gambling debts are suddenly called in by some very unpleasant people. Do we understand each other?"
The doctor swallowed hard, nodding rapidly before vanishing back into the building.
Victoria rolled up the window, a cruel smile twisting her lips. "Drive," she told her chauffeur.
The following morning, Elara received a summons to the Vance corporate headquarters.
She arrived wearing her only nice dress—a simple, dark blue piece that she usually saved for church. The towering glass-and-steel building made her feel insignificantly small. She was escorted to the top floor, where the air was noticeably thinner and colder.
She walked into a sprawling boardroom. Julian sat at the head of a massive mahogany table. Victoria stood behind him, looking like a queen presiding over an execution. Eleanor was not there.
"Sit down, Elara," Julian said. His voice was completely devoid of the hidden emotion she had seen in the hospital hallway. He was back to being the shark.
Elara sat, folding her hands tightly in her lap. "How is Mrs. Vance?"
"My mother's health is none of your concern," Julian replied, pushing a blue folder across the polished wood. "The DNA results came back this morning."
Elara’s heart leapt. "Then you know. You know I was telling the truth."
"I know," Julian said quietly, his eyes hardening into chips of ice, "that you are an incredibly talented actress. And a fraud."
Elara froze. "What?"
Julian opened the folder. "Zero percent probability. You share no genetic markers with my mother. You are not Clara’s daughter."
"That's impossible!" Elara stood up, her chair scraping loudly against the floor. "There has to be a mistake. Run it again. Let me take another test!"
"Enough!" Julian slammed his hand on the table, the sharp sound echoing through the room. "I wanted to believe you. God help me, I looked at you and I wanted my sister back. But the machines don't lie. You researched my family, you found a physical resemblance, and you preyed on a dying woman’s dementia."
"Julian, please," Elara begged, tears springing to her eyes. She wasn't crying for the money; she was crying because her mother’s truth was being erased. "I don't care about your company! I just wanted her to know Clara loved her!"
Victoria stepped forward, her smile dripping with fake pity. "Security is waiting in the lobby. If you ever come near this building, the hospital, or my mother-in-law again, we will press federal fraud charges. You are a disgusting, opportunistic little girl. Now, get out."
May you like
Elara looked at Julian, hoping to see a flicker of doubt in his eyes. But he had closed himself off completely. He turned his chair to look out the window, dismissing her from his reality.
Shattered, Elara turned and ran from the room.
