Chapter 11 - THE SECOND PATERNITY SECRET
I did not want Genevieve's pregnancy dragged into our case.
Rachel agreed.
"Unless it affects fraud or custody, it stays private."
Harrison explained why he brought it.
Blackwood investigators reviewing Ross Capital found a confidential payment to a fertility clinic.
The payer was not Julian.
It was his older cousin, Maxwell Vance.
I stared.
Maxwell sat on the Vance board and had spent years pretending he hated family drama.
The clinic record did not prove paternity.
It proved secrecy.
I refused to leak it.
Then Maxwell called me himself.
"We need to talk."
He met me in a hotel conference room with no lawyers.
He admitted he and Genevieve had been involved before she chose Julian.
"Chose?"
His laugh was bitter.
"Genevieve doesn't date. She positions."
Maxwell said Victoria pushed Genevieve toward Julian because Ross Capital could refinance Vance Group.
When Genevieve became pregnant, she told both men the child was theirs at different times.
"Why tell me?"
"Because she's threatening to destroy me if I don't vote for the Ross deal."
There it was.
The pregnancy was leverage.
Again, a child turned into a financial instrument by adults.
I hated the symmetry.
Maxwell gave us board messages showing Victoria coordinating votes, false press leaks, and the custody strategy.
One message made my hands shake.
VICTORIA: IF ELEANOR LOSES MAYA, THE TRUST BECOMES MANAGEABLE.
GENEVIEVE: AND IF SHE DOESN'T?
VICTORIA: THEN WE MAKE HER LOOK DANGEROUS.
The next line was from Julian.
JULIAN: KEEP ME OUT OF THE DETAILS.
He had not ordered the plan.
He had chosen not to know.
That was his favorite form of innocence.
Then Maxwell gave us the final message.
Sent the morning Genevieve hit Maya.
GENEVIEVE: SHE'S BRINGING THE KID TO THE GALA?
VICTORIA: NOT IF WE CAN MAKE ELEANOR LEAVE WITHOUT HER.
I looked up.
May you like
They had not expected me to take Maya.
Which meant the attack in the foyer may not have been random rage at all.
