Chapter 14 - The Second Folder
We didn't wait until morning. We woke our neighbor, begged her to listen over our sleeping boys for an hour, and drove straight down to the downtown precinct where James had managed to secure the contents of Elena's safe deposit box in a temporary police evidence lockup earlier that week.
An officer on duty—a sympathetic friend of James's college fraternity brother—signed off on letting us review the remaining files in a small, empty interrogation room under strict supervision.
I tore open the heavy manila folder labeled Confidential.
Inside sat a thick stack of medical records, private DNA sequencing charts, and a handwritten ledger filled with dates, names, and wire transfers dating back four years.
"Look at this," James said, pointing a trembling finger at a certified genetic profile sheet dated two months before Maya was conceived.
My eyes scanned the clinical terminology until they hit the bottom line. Biological Paternity Exclusion: Marcus Thorne (0%).
Below it, a separate genetic match was listed under a heavily redacted corporate entity code: Subject 99-Delta: Verified Biological Father.
"If it wasn't Marcus... then who the hell is Subject 99-Delta?" I asked, flipping the page frantically.
A glossy photograph slipped out from between the pages and fluttered down onto the metal table.
It was a picture taken at an upscale charity gala in the city three years ago. Elena was standing near a marble pillar, looking tense and pale, while standing just a few feet away, talking to a prominent state senator, was a strikingly handsome, silver-haired man in an expensive bespoke tuxedo.
Across the back of the photo, Elena had written in hurried ink: Julian Vance. Not related to James by blood, but a shadow corporation owner who controls half the municipal contracts in this state. He’s the monster behind the curtain.
My blood ran cold. Julian Vance.
A man whose name appeared on billboards across the city, a billionaire philanthropist and real estate mogul who owned the very hospital where Maya was born, and who sat on the board of directors for the county family court system.
"He's not just a businessman," James whispered, staring at the photo in absolute horror, his face turning ghostly white. "Julian Vance is the man who bought my architectural firm's primary debt three years ago. He owns my livelihood, he owns the mortgage on this house... and apparently, he owns our daughter."
Before I could process the staggering weight of the revelation, the heavy steel door of the interrogation room swung open with a loud bang.
Standing in the doorway was Julian Vance himself, wearing an immaculate cashmere overcoat, flanked by two armed private security guards.
May you like
He smiled warmly, stepping into the harsh light of the room as if he were greeting old friends at a Sunday brunch.
"Good evening, James. And hello, Sarah," Julian said, his voice smooth and hypnotic. "I see you've finally found my file. Now, let’s talk about how we're going to hand my daughter back over to her real family."
