Chapter 6 - THE SECOND SECRET
Lucas turned toward Diane.
“No.”
Diane couldn’t look at him.
“No.”
“Lucas…”
“Do not say my name.”
Emma was escorted into another room with Grace.
Lucas waited until she was gone.
Then he closed the door.
“What was Charles talking about?”
Diane pressed both hands against her face.
Vanessa was still missing.
Charles was in custody.
The ballroom had been evacuated.
And Lucas’s entire life was collapsing one secret at a time.
“Rachel was pregnant when she married you,” Diane whispered.
Lucas stared at her.
He laughed once.
Not because it was funny.
Because his brain rejected the words.
“Emma was born two years after our wedding.”
“I know.”
“Then what are you talking about?”
Diane shook her head.
“Not with Emma.”
Lucas froze.
“What?”
“There was another pregnancy.”
Lucas’s anger vanished.
Rachel had never told him.
“She lost the baby?”
Diane nodded.
“After she found out Charles was stealing from the foundation.”
Lucas sat down.
“How do you know any of this?”
“Because Rachel came to me.”
“Why you?”
Diane looked ashamed.
“I worked for Charles.”
Lucas stared.
“You?”
“I handled donor accounts.”
“So you helped steal the money.”
“At first, I didn’t know.”
“And later?”
Diane said nothing.
Lucas understood.
“Later, you knew.”
Tears slid down her face.
“I wanted out.”
“What does this have to do with Emma?”
Diane looked toward the door.
“Rachel started collecting evidence.”
“She told me that.”
“Charles found out.”
Lucas’s hands curled into fists.
“He threatened her.”
“With what?”
“With you.”
Lucas laughed bitterly.
“Me?”
“He said he would frame you for the fraud.”
Diane swallowed.
“And he had enough access to do it.”
Lucas leaned back.
Every memory of Rachel’s final months changed shape.
Her anxiety.
Her sleepless nights.
Her insistence that Lucas spend more time with Emma.
He had thought she was stressed.
She had been terrified.
“But Charles said something else,” Diane continued.
“He told Rachel that if she went to police, he would take Emma.”
“How?”
Diane whispered, “By claiming Emma was his.”
Lucas went completely still.
“No.”
“It wasn’t true.”
Lucas looked up sharply.
“Then why would that threat work?”
“Because Charles had been obsessed with Rachel for years.”
Lucas’s stomach turned.
“He wanted people to believe they had an affair.”
“They didn’t.”
“You’re sure?”
“Yes.”
Lucas looked toward the doorway where Emma had disappeared.
“So what was he talking about?”
Diane’s voice dropped.
“Emma is your daughter.”
Lucas closed his eyes.
Relief came for half a second.
Then Diane continued.
“But Vanessa has been secretly collecting DNA from Emma for months.”
Lucas opened his eyes.
“What?”
“To fake a paternity result.”
Lucas stood.
“She planned to convince me Emma wasn’t mine?”
Diane nodded.
“After the wedding.”
“Why?”
“To make you give up custody.”
Lucas felt rage rising.
“Why would she care where Emma lived?”
Diane looked at Rachel’s box.
“Because Emma inherited something Rachel never told you about.”
“What?”
May you like
Diane whispered,
“Forty-eight million dollars.”
