Chapter 7 - THE BROTHER IN THE SHADOWS
Claire stared at Marcus.
He did not move toward Ethan.
That mattered.
Everyone else who had claimed a connection to the newborn seemed obsessed with possession.
Marcus only looked sad.
“You knew?”
Claire asked.
“About the embryo?”
“No.”
“Then how?”
“My father collected genetic samples from me for years.”
Marcus looked at Margaret.
“He said they were for hereditary cancer screening.”
Margaret’s expression hardened.
“They were.”
“Some were.”
Marcus turned back to Claire.
“I learned three weeks ago that Charles used one of my samples.”
Claire felt sick.
“So nobody consented.”
“No.”
Daniel spoke.
“Except my father.”
Margaret said nothing.
Rebecca stepped forward.
“Why does everyone keep talking about Ethan like he belongs to whoever has the right DNA?”
No adult answered immediately.
Rebecca’s voice grew stronger.
“He belongs to Mom.”
Claire looked at her daughter.
Rebecca pointed at herself.
“And I belong to Mom too.”
Laura’s eyes filled.
Rebecca glanced toward her.
“And Sophie belongs to you.”
The simplicity of it silenced the corridor.
Claire reached for Rebecca’s hand.
Margaret broke the moment.
“This is not about feelings.”
Claire turned.
“That sentence explains everything wrong with your family.”
Margaret ignored the insult.
“Ethan is connected to the Bennett estate.”
“Through Marcus.”
“Yes.”
“The moment Charles acknowledged Marcus in his sealed will, Marcus became a Bennett heir.”
Marcus laughed once.
“I didn’t ask for it.”
“No.”
Margaret looked at him.
“But Ethan makes you dangerous.”
Daniel stepped between them.
“To whom?”
“To everyone.”
Margaret finally explained.
Charles Bennett’s estate controlled hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical research facilities, and real estate worth billions.
His will contained an unusual succession clause.
If Daniel had no biological child, controlling ownership would pass to Charles’s eldest living biological son.
Marcus.
But if Marcus had a biological child, the trust would eventually pass through Marcus’s line.
Ethan.
Claire stared at the sleeping newborn.
“He’s six hours old and people are already fighting over his inheritance.”
“It isn’t just inheritance,” Natalie said.
She plugged the flash drive into a wall terminal.
Files appeared.
Research payments.
Genetic patents.
Confidential clinical trials.
Charles had used the family hospital network to fund illegal fertility experiments for almost a decade.
If those records became public, the Bennett companies could collapse.
Margaret looked at Natalie.
“You don’t understand the consequences.”
“People were used without consent.”
“And thousands of innocent employees could lose everything.”
Claire stared.
“That’s your defense?”
“My priority is preventing destruction.”
Daniel stepped closer.
“My priority is my family.”
Margaret looked at him coldly.
“You forfeited the right to use that word eight years ago.”
Daniel flinched.
Claire noticed.
“What does she know?”
Daniel did not answer.
Margaret smiled faintly.
“Ask your husband why he signed Rebecca’s transfer.”
Claire already knew the basic answer.
“He was scared.”
“No.”
Margaret looked directly at Claire.
“He signed because Charles offered him something.”
Daniel’s face changed.
“Mother.”
Claire turned toward him.
“What?”
Daniel looked at Rebecca.
“Not here.”
Rebecca immediately spoke.
“I’m not a baby.”
Claire squeezed her hand.
“Tell us.”
Daniel’s eyes filled with shame.
“My father said if I signed, he would destroy the fertility records.”
Claire frowned.
“What fertility records?”
Daniel swallowed.
“The ones proving I knew you were being inseminated with donor sperm.”
Claire stared at him.
“You knew?”
“Yes.”
“You let me believe Ethan and Rebecca were biologically yours?”
“Yes.”
Rebecca turned away.
Claire’s anger became almost calm.
“You lied to me every day for eight years.”
Daniel whispered.
“Yes.”
Then Margaret delivered the final blow.
“That still isn’t why he signed.”
Daniel looked at her.
Margaret’s voice was merciless.
“Tell Claire what Charles promised you if her sick baby disappeared.”
Daniel closed his eyes.
Marcus suddenly looked disgusted.
“What did you do?”
Claire whispered.
“Daniel?”
Her husband opened his eyes.
“He promised me the hospital.”
Claire’s heart seemed to stop.
Daniel continued.
“If I signed the transfer…”
His voice broke.
“…I would inherit control of the Bennett medical network.”
May you like
Claire stared at the man she had loved for eleven years.
He had traded the truth about her newborn daughter for an empire.
