Chapter 12 - The 99.9 Percent Truth
Marcus agreed to meet me at Daniel’s law firm later that afternoon. He arrived looking like a man who hadn't slept in weeks—rumpled clothes, dark circles under his eyes, but a fierce, undeniable determination in his posture.
He sat across from Daniel and me in the conference room and slid a sealed medical envelope across the table.
“She demanded I pay for a private prenatal paternity test before she left,” Marcus explained, his hands clenched into fists. “She wanted it on record so she could hit me for child support if Grant didn't take the bait. I got the results mailed to my apartment yesterday.”
I opened the envelope. It was a certified prenatal DNA report from a highly respected clinic in the city. I scanned down to the final conclusion line.
Probability of Paternity: 99.99%. Alleged Father: Marcus Reed.
“Grant proposed to her the day after she got these results,” Marcus said, his voice dripping with disgust. “He bought the lie hook, line, and sinker.”
“This is incredibly helpful, Marcus,” Daniel said, his lawyer instincts buzzing. “But we need absolute confirmation that Celeste knew and actively deceived Grant.”
Marcus reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone. “She got drunk two weeks ago. Left me a voicemail. I think the guilt, or maybe just the arrogance, finally got to her.”
He pressed play and set the phone on the table.
There was a burst of static, followed by the clinking of a glass, and then Celeste’s unmistakable, sharp laughter.
May you like
“God, Marcus, you should see them,” Celeste slurred through the recording. “Grant is so desperate for a boy, he’s practically kissing the ground I walk on. Once we marry, that old witch Vivian will make sure I control the family money. He never needs to know whose child it is. It’s too easy.”
The recording clicked off. The wrong person had not merely been betrayed. The wrong person had been invited into their fraud, and they were about to burn.
