Chapter 6 - THE PATERNITY TEST THEY REPLACED.
The private test Daniel gave Claire had been forged.
The original laboratory report identified Ethan as the likely father.
Daniel had obtained a copy through a Price-owned medical network, altered the conclusion, and used the false result to convince Claire that her marriage could not survive.
Ethan had discovered the original only after Emma sent him the recording.
He did not excuse Claire’s secrecy.
He also refused to let Daniel and Victoria turn her into the only person responsible.
“My wife made choices,” he said. “You built the trap.”
Victoria told Ethan not to humiliate the family in front of donors.
He looked around the room.
“You were comfortable when Lily was being humiliated.”
The sentence landed harder than shouting.
Daniel accused Ethan of using the scandal to take control of Price Holdings.
For years, Daniel had described his brother as weak because Ethan refused to close factories for short-term profit.
Ethan had accepted smaller bonuses to preserve employee pensions.
Victoria called that poor leadership.
She praised Daniel for protecting shareholder value, even when his deals placed thousands of workers at risk.
The paternity scheme was not only about jealousy.
The Price family trust gave Ethan a crucial board vote once his first child was legally recognized.
Daniel needed that vote before the annual debt review.
Without it, the board could examine losses hidden inside Daniel’s private investment division.
Martin Cole demanded access to the company accounts.
Victoria refused.
Emma reminded him that she still owned a minority block of Price shares inherited from her father.
Victoria had told everyone those shares were surrendered when Emma married a teacher.
Emma had never signed them away.
The law firm searched its archive.
A transfer agreement appeared with Emma’s signature.
She looked at the page and laughed bitterly.
The signature used her married name three months before her wedding.
It was another forgery.
Daniel’s paternity fraud had opened a door into years of stolen family control.
Martin found one more document attached to the transfer.
It authorized Victoria to act as trustee for Lily’s shares until Lily turned twenty-five.
Victoria had hidden the trust from both Emma and her daughter.
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Lily was not merely a child they wanted removed from the table.
Legally, she already owned part of it.
