Chapter 17 - The Son Nobody Expected.
The rain against the windows became the loudest sound in the room.
Elena stared at Dr. Pierce.
Vanessa stared at him too.
Caleb slowly lowered the pistol.
Daniel did not move at all.
"Say that again," Daniel whispered.
Pierce closed his eyes.
"Nathan is my biological son."
Daniel laughed once.
It was a small, broken sound.
"No."
Pierce looked at him with a grief that seemed decades old.
"Your mother and I were together again briefly after you were born."
"Robert was traveling for months."
"We ended it before Nathan was born."
Daniel's voice rose for the first time.
"No."
Elena understood the cruelty of the revelation.
Daniel had spent years believing Robert's rejection came from doubts about his blood.
Instead, he had been Robert's biological son all along.
Nathan, the brother Daniel believed had been chosen because he was the legitimate heir, was the one who was not biologically Robert's.
Daniel turned toward Elena.
"You knew?"
"No."
"Nathan knew?"
"No."
Pierce spoke.
"Nobody knew until Caleb forced the test."
Caleb gave him a hard look.
"Daniel paid for the test."
"I obtained the samples."
Pierce shook his head.
"You obtained the wrong sample first."
Caleb frowned.
Pierce continued.
"The hairbrush in Margaret's room contained Nathan's hair."
"Not hers."
Elena's pulse quickened.
"So the first report showed Daniel and Nathan were not full brothers."
Pierce nodded.
"Daniel assumed that meant Robert was not his father."
"I ran a second test using an old pathology sample from Robert."
Daniel looked almost sick.
"And Robert was mine."
"Yes."
"Nathan was yours."
Pierce whispered.
"Yes."
Daniel stood slowly.
His entire identity had just inverted in front of them.
For a moment, Elena thought the truth might break him open.
Instead, it made him colder.
"Then Nathan has no right to the company."
Elena saw the trap immediately.
Even now, Daniel reduced truth to ownership.
"That's not how inheritance works," she said.
"Robert legally recognized Nathan as his son."
Daniel glared at her.
"You think paper makes blood irrelevant?"
Elena glanced at the deed in his hand.
"You've spent this entire night proving paper matters to you."
Caleb almost smiled.
Daniel noticed.
"Something funny?"
Caleb's expression hardened.
"Only that the Howard family keeps discovering new ways to argue over things stolen from other people."
He pointed toward the deed.
"That land belongs to my family."
Daniel tightened his grip on it.
"Your grandfather lost it."
"Your grandfather forged the foreclosure."
"And you planned to blackmail me with the DNA report."
"I planned to make sure you didn't bury the deed again."
The alliance was cracking in front of Elena.
Outside, Ruiz and his team were still listening.
Daniel did not know the transmitter remained active.
Elena needed him talking.
"What was the real plan for me?" she asked.
Daniel looked at her.
"Vanessa was supposed to frighten you."
Vanessa snapped.
"You told me to push her."
Daniel shrugged.
"I told you Elena would be protected."
"I also knew you were angry enough to make the scene believable."
Elena felt Vanessa tense beside her.
"So the fall was staged by both sides," Elena said.
Daniel smiled faintly.
"Exactly."
"You thought you were trapping Vanessa."
"I was using your trap to empty the house."
"Everyone played their part."
Elena shook her head.
"Not everyone."
Daniel frowned.
Elena looked toward Caleb.
"He has been recording you too."
Daniel turned.
Caleb's face revealed the truth before he could deny it.
A tiny red light blinked from the breast pocket of his jacket.
Daniel lunged.
The pistol fired.
And the lake house went dark.
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THE REVERSED PLAN
