Chapter 4 - THE WRONG DAUGHTER’S REVENGE
Headline: "The test results arrived in a gold envelope. But before Eleanor could open it, a horrifying trap was sprung..."Three days later, the tension in the Vance Estate was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Maya was cleaning the grand library when Eleanor walked in. The billionaire looked pale, her usual stoic facade cracking. She held a sealed, official medical envelope from the New York Genetics Institute—a premier, un-bribable facility where she had personally submitted samples obtained from Maya’s water glass and her own hair.
"Maya," Eleanor said softly, her voice trembling. "Sit down with me. Please."
Maya wiped her hands on her apron, feeling a deep sense of dread. "Madam, if this is about the coffee—"
"It's not about the coffee," Eleanor interrupted, sitting on the velvet sofa. She looked at the envelope in her hands. "Twenty-five years ago, I gave birth in a chaotic hospital during a massive city blackout. The nurses were overwhelmed. When they handed me my baby, I felt a strange, terrible disconnect. I thought it was postpartum depression. I forced myself to ignore it. But looking at you... hearing your voice... I need to know the truth."
Before Maya could process the words, the heavy double doors of the library flew open.
Chloe marched in, flanked by Julian Vance and two imposing security guards. Her face was a mask of righteous fury.
"Mother! Thank God I found you before this grifter sucked you into her trap!" Chloe yelled, slamming her own set of papers onto the table. "I knew something was wrong with that maid. I ran a DNA test myself using an elite private firm. Look at it!"
Eleanor frowned, picking up Chloe's falsified report. It boldly stated: Probability of Maternity: 0.00%.
"She's a fraud, Mother!" Chloe cried, putting on an Oscar-worthy performance of a devastated daughter. "She targeted our family! She applied for this job knowing who you were, hoping her slight resemblance would trick a lonely older woman into giving her millions! She's a con artist!"
Maya stood up, her face turning bright red with humiliation and anger. "That’s a lie! I didn't even know who Eleanor Vance was until I got hired! I’m just trying to pay my rent!"
"Shut up, you parasite!" Chloe snapped, signaling the guards. "Guards, remove her from the property. And call the police. We are pressing charges for attempted extortion and fraud!"
"Wait!" Eleanor commanded, her voice ringing like a thunderclap. The guards hesitated. Eleanor looked at the envelope in her own hand—the real, untampered test. Her fingers shook as she tore it open.
She pulled out the document. Her eyes scanned past the medical jargon down to the final verdict.
PROBABILITY OF MATERNITY: 99.999% CONCLUSION: THE TESTED PARTIES SHARE A DIRECT MATERNAL-FILIAL RELATIONSHIP.
Eleanor’s breath left her body in a ragged sob. She looked up at Maya, tears streaming down her face. "It's you... You are my baby. My real daughter. My Victoria."
Maya’s jaw dropped. "What...?"
Chloe’s eyes widened in horror. She hadn't expected Eleanor to get her own independent test so quickly. Panic turned into psychotic desperation.
"No! That test is fake! She paid them off!" Chloe screamed, completely losing her mind. "Julian, do something!"
Julian stepped forward, his face hardening. "Eleanor, you’ve lost your sanity. This grief has blinded you. As the board of directors' representative, I cannot allow a mentally unstable woman to control the Vance empire. Guards, seize Eleanor as well. We are initiating an emergency psychiatric hold."
The guards, who were secretly on Julian’s payroll, moved forward.
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But Chloe wasn't done. Seeing her entire life flashing before her eyes, she looked at Maya with pure, unadulterated hatred. "You took my life!" she shrieked.
In a flash of manic rage, Chloe grabbed a heavy, sharp silver letter opener from the mahogany desk and lunged directly at Maya’s throat.
