Chapter 4 - The DNA and the DossierThe morning sun cast long, sharp shadows across Ethan’s private office.
On the mahogany desk sat two manila folders. One contained the rushed, private DNA test results Ethan had ordered through a trusted medical concierge at dawn. The other contained a thick dossier that his own corporate security team had just dropped on his desk, investigating Rosa’s sudden disappearance from Columbia four years ago.
Ethan opened the DNA report first.
Probability of Paternity: 99.99%.
He closed his eyes, a strange mix of profound grief and electric protectiveness washing over him. He had a daughter. A tiny, bright-eyed little girl who liked the sound of piano keys.
Then, hands slightly shaking, he opened the second folder.
He expected to find financial struggles, maybe medical debts. Instead, the first page featured a photograph of a biomedical research paper co-authored by Rosa Martinez and a senior professor at Columbia—a patent on a revolutionary, green-energy nano-solvent that could neutralize industrial oil spills in minutes.
Ethan frowned, reading further.
Patent assigned exclusively to Caldwell Energy Group. Inventor: Rosa Martinez. Status: Terminated due to student withdrawal.
Ethan stared at the page, his breath catching in his throat.
It wasn't a coincidence that Rosa had applied to an employment agency that placed her in his home. It wasn't random luck.
She hadn't just been his girlfriend. She had been the brilliant mind behind the billion-dollar green-tech breakthrough that launched Caldwell Energy into the Fortune 100—and his own corporate board had systematically buried her name, paid off her professor, and forced her out of the university to steal her patent.
The door burst open.
Rosa stood there, bags packed, Lily holding onto her skirt with big, frightened eyes.
"The car is here," Rosa said coldly, refusing to look him in the eye. "Let us pass, Ethan."
Ethan slowly stood up from his leather chair. He didn't look like a vengeful billionaire anymore. He looked like a man standing on the edge of an abyss.
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"You didn't run away because of my society friends, Rosa," Ethan said softly, holding up the dossier. "You ran away because my own board of directors threatened to kill you."
Rosa froze, her face draining of every last drop of color.
