Chapter 5 - Dawn and the Verdict
At 7:45 AM, Nathaniel sat behind his massive mahogany desk. The city outside was waking up, the morning sun painting the Manhattan skyscrapers in gold and amber.
The lab report lay open before him.
Paternity Probability: 99.999%.
The office door opened softly, and Elena walked in holding a cup of black coffee. She wore a simple white linen shirt and dark trousers, her hair tied back in a loose clip. She looked like the girl he had fallen in love with in a damp university library five years ago, before the money, before the empire, before the cruelty of his family.
"The test?" she asked quietly, setting the coffee down.
Nathaniel turned the paper around. She didn't look at the numbers; she already knew.
"They're mine," Nathaniel said, his voice thick with emotion he hadn't felt in half a decade. "Every single one of them."
"I'm sorry I kept them from you, Nathaniel," Elena said, looking out at the skyline. "When I left, I was terrified you'd give up everything to fight your mother, and that she would destroy you in the process. I wanted you to have the empire you were built for. I just... I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"You're not getting rid of me this time," Nathaniel stood up, walking around the desk. "And neither are they. We are going to court, we are rewriting the family trust, and my mother is going to learn what happens when she meddles in my life."
Before Elena could respond, the intercom buzzed sharply.
May you like
"Sir," his executive assistant's voice came through, frantic and breathless. "You need to turn on the financial news. Celeste Cross just called an emergency press conference down at the corporate headquarters. She's announcing a hostile takeover of your voting shares, backed by the Lockwood family, citing your 'mental incompetence' due to an unverified paternity claim."
Nathaniel stared at the phone. He had underestimated his mother's desperation.
