Chapter 7 - The Test From Six Years Ago.
Nia read the emergency petition at Maya's office with Luca sitting across from her.
She reached the paragraph about the alleged old DNA test and read it again.
Then she looked at Luca with open disbelief.
There was no test.
I believe you.
No one ever tested Noah or Lily.
I believe you.
Nia pushed the papers away.
Then why would your family swear in court that it happened?
Maya answered before Luca could.
Because someone expects a document to exist.
She turned her laptop so they could see the filing attachment list.
Exhibit C was described as a confidential laboratory report dated six years earlier.
The exhibit itself had been filed under seal, meaning Maya could not access it until the judge approved her request.
Luca called the family attorney whose name appeared on the petition.
The attorney claimed he had been instructed by Evelyn's private office and believed Luca supported the filing.
Withdraw it.
Mr. Moretti, I strongly suggest we discuss the implications first.
Withdraw it today.
Luca ended the call.
Nia watched him carefully.
You can't order your way out of this one.
I'm not trying to.
It looks like you are.
Luca leaned forward.
Nia, someone used my number, blocked your letters, sent money in my family's name, spoke to my father through an intermediary, and now claims a DNA test happened without either of us knowing.
I am not trying to control this.
I am trying to find the point where the lies stop.
Nia's expression softened but did not fully relax.
Maya's phone buzzed with an email from the court clerk.
The sealed exhibit had been released to the parties.
She downloaded it.
The laboratory report was one page long.
It listed Luca Moretti as the alleged father and Noah Carter as the child.
The conclusion said Luca was excluded as the biological father.
Nia stood so quickly her chair rolled backward.
This is fake.
Luca stared at the date.
Noah had been three months old when the sample was supposedly collected.
The laboratory listed on the document had closed two years later.
Maya began checking archived corporate records and state licensing databases.
Luca called Victor.
His father had never seen the report.
Then Luca called Evelyn.
She answered on the second ring.
I assume you've read it.
Luca went silent.
Evelyn's certainty landed like another confession.
Where did you get that report?
It was provided to the family years ago.
By whom?
By a representative acting for Nia.
Nia stood beside Luca and shook her head furiously.
What representative?
Luca asked.
Evelyn sighed.
A man named Caleb Reed.
Nia's face changed.
Luca noticed immediately.
You know that name?
Nia sat down slowly.
Caleb was my cousin's boyfriend.
He drove me to two doctor appointments when I was pregnant because I didn't have a car.
Did he ever represent you?
Never.
Did he have access to Noah after he was born?
Nia looked horrified.
He visited once at the hospital.
Maya asked the question none of them wanted to hear.
Could he have obtained something carrying Noah's DNA?
Nia's hands tightened.
A pacifier, maybe.
A bottle.
I don't know.
Luca spoke into the phone again.
Where is Caleb Reed now?
Evelyn paused.
I have no idea.
Luca no longer believed her pauses were accidental.
Maya searched public records.
Caleb had moved to Arizona five years earlier, then disappeared from easily available records.
A corporate database showed one more detail.
Two months after the alleged test, Caleb Reed had received a consulting payment from a company named North Harbor Advisory.
Luca recognized the company immediately.
It was one of the entities created under the confidential family-risk fund Victor had shown him.
Nia looked from the screen to Luca.
Your family paid him.
Luca did not try to defend it.
Yes.
Maya leaned back in her chair.
Then this isn't only about a fake report.
It may be about paying someone to create evidence.
Luca's phone buzzed with a new email.
The subject line contained only four words.
THE REAL SAMPLE WASN'T NOAH'S.
There was no message body.
Only a photograph.
May you like
It showed an old laboratory intake form with another child's name partially visible beneath correction tape.
The first name began with an L.
