Chapter 8 - What Happened to ClaireAnna remembered her mother’s funeral.
Daniel knocked a chair backward.
Anna clutched the edge of the table.
Detective Cole stepped in immediately.
“Everybody sit down.”
Anna couldn’t hear him.
Her mind had gone somewhere else.
Daniel.
The baby.
Half-siblings.
“No,” she whispered.
Daniel looked physically sick.
Evelyn watched them with cold satisfaction.
Then Maria entered.
She had been monitoring from the adjoining room.
“That is a lie.”
Evelyn’s head snapped toward her.
Maria stepped forward.
“You always were better at lying when you had time to prepare.”
“Stay out of this.”
“I stayed out for twenty-three years.”
Maria’s voice shook with anger.
“I’m done.”
She faced Anna.
“Your mother never slept with Charles Mercer.”
Evelyn laughed.
“You weren’t in the bedroom.”
“No. But Claire told me who the father was before Evelyn ever learned about the pregnancy.”
Anna gripped Maria’s hand.
“Who?”
Maria looked at Daniel.
Then at Evelyn.
“Arthur.”
Evelyn snapped, “Arthur was sterile.”
Maria replied, “According to whom?”
Silence.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed.
Maria continued.
“The Mercer family doctor?”
Evelyn said nothing.
“The same doctor your father paid for thirty years?”
Daniel looked at his mother.
“Was Grandfather actually infertile?”
Evelyn’s lips tightened.
Detective Cole spoke.
“DNA can answer this.”
Evelyn reached for her bag.
“We’re finished.”
Cole blocked her path.
“No, ma’am.”
“Am I under arrest?”
“Not yet.”
“Then move.”
He did.
Evelyn walked out.
But for the first time in decades, she looked afraid.
DNA testing began that afternoon.
Daniel gave a sample.
Anna gave one.
A preserved sample from Arthur Mercer existed at St. Catherine Medical Research Center because he had participated in a hereditary cardiac study before his death.
Getting access required a court order.
Daniel’s attorney obtained an emergency petition.
While they waited, another problem surfaced.
Peter Sloan disappeared.
Police found his apartment empty.
His passport was missing.
His car was abandoned near O’Hare.
But Sam discovered something.
“Your security guy visited the diner four times before Anna ever walked in,” he told Maria.
“When?”
“Over the last three months.”
Maria stared.
“Why?”
Sam opened archived footage.
Peter Sloan entered.
Ordered coffee.
Sat near the register.
Watched Maria.
“He was monitoring me,” she whispered.
“For what?”
Maria thought about the filing cabinet.
The cassette.
Claire.
“They suspected I kept evidence.”
That evening, Daniel rented rooms at a guarded hotel under false names.
Anna hated it.
“I don’t want your money.”
“It’s hotel money.”
“You know what I mean.”
Daniel nodded.
Their relationship had become something neither knew how to define.
Former lovers.
Possible relatives.
Future co-parents?
Maybe nothing.
Daniel stood near the door.
“I keep thinking about her.”
Anna looked up.
“The baby?”
“Yes.”
His voice softened.
“Do you have a name?”
Anna hesitated.
“Hope.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
“That’s beautiful.”
“My mother’s middle name was Hope.”
He nodded.
Anna watched him.
“If the test says we’re related…”
“I know.”
Daniel couldn’t finish.
A knock interrupted them.
Maria opened the door.
Detective Cole entered holding an envelope.
“Preliminary results.”
Anna stood.
Daniel didn’t move.
Cole opened the report.
“Daniel Mercer and Anna Carter are not biologically related.”
Anna’s knees almost gave out.
Daniel caught the chair beside him.
Maria exhaled loudly.
Anna covered her face.
The relief was overwhelming.
But Cole remained serious.
“There’s more.”
He handed Daniel the report.
“Daniel, the sample from Arthur Mercer shows a first-degree biological relationship to Anna.”
Maria whispered, “He was her father.”
Cole nodded.
Anna began crying.
Not because of money.
Not because of inheritance.
Because after thirty-three years, she finally knew.
Her mother had told the truth.
Daniel looked at the report again.
“But if Arthur was Anna’s father…”
Cole answered quietly.
“…then Arthur Mercer was not your biological grandfather.”
Daniel stared.
“That means my mother…”
“Is not Arthur’s biological daughter.”
The implications hit instantly.
Evelyn had spent twenty-three years hiding Anna because Anna was Arthur Mercer’s biological child.
His only biological child.
Which meant according to the original trust—
Anna might not merely have a claim.
She might own controlling interest in Mercer Holdings.
Daniel slowly looked at her.
“Anna…”
“No.”
“You need to understand what this means.”
“I don’t care about the company.”
“You should.”
“Why?”
Daniel handed her the trust summary his attorney had uncovered.
A clause highlighted in yellow.
Control shall pass to the surviving biological issue of Arthur James Mercer, or their legal descendants.
Anna read it twice.
Her daughter kicked.
Maria whispered, “Evelyn didn’t destroy your mother’s life because she was ashamed.”
Anna looked up.
“She was protecting the company.”
Daniel nodded.
“And now that DNA proves you’re Arthur’s daughter…”
He looked toward the locked hotel door.
“…you can take everything Evelyn built her life around.”
Anna’s phone rang.
Unknown number.
Daniel answered on speaker.
Peter Sloan’s voice came through.
“Congratulations on the test.”
Anna went cold.
Cole immediately began tracing.
Peter continued.
“But before you celebrate, Anna, there’s something you should know about your mother’s death.”
Anna stopped breathing.
“What about it?”
Peter’s voice dropped.
“Claire Carter didn’t die in an accident.”
The line went silent.
May you like
Then he added:
“Evelyn had her killed.”
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