Chapter 4
Sienna Cole refused to speak voluntarily.
That was her right.
Her attorney made one thing clear:
“Sienna was not involved in the fertility treatment.”
Claire accepted the statement.
Massimo did not know why her lawyer felt the need to say it before anyone asked.
That made him more interested.
Not convinced.
Interested.
The mountain-road incident created separate legal exposure.
Video from the convoy showed Adrian pushing Mara out of the SUV.
It showed her falling into the snow.
It showed him throwing her hospital bag.
It showed Adrian striking first at Massimo.
It showed Sienna approaching Mara’s belongings.
And it showed Massimo striking Sienna after knocking her hand away.
Claire gave Massimo no comfort.
“The punch to Adrian is easier factually. He swung.”
“And Sienna?”
“You stopped her from reaching Mara’s property.”
“Yes.”
“The exact force you used will still be reviewed.”
Massimo nodded.
He did not ask security to lose the footage.
That mattered later.
Mara sought a protective order covering physical contact and harassment.
Adrian’s attorney negotiated no-contact terms without admitting the broader allegations.
The marriage was effectively over.
The paternity issue remained.
Then Lakeview produced billing records.
One charge had not gone through the couple’s ordinary insurance.
It had been paid privately by Adrian.
$8,400.
Description:
Specimen acquisition and cryostorage coordination.
Mara stared at it.
“I never knew about this.”
Rebecca asked the clinic to explain.
The clinic refused initially because the service was linked to Adrian’s individual record.
That answer itself mattered.
Whatever the charge covered, Adrian had arranged it privately.
Another record showed Adrian personally signed a courier receipt on the morning of the successful treatment cycle.
He had insisted on bringing a sealed specimen container to the clinic rather than providing the sample onsite.
Mara remembered that morning.
“He said he was embarrassed.”
“About producing a sample at the clinic?” Rebecca asked.
“Yes.”
Reasonable.
Common even.
Except the clinic’s standard procedure usually required identity verification.
The archived note read:
Partner specimen received via preauthorized external chain. Exception approved by clinical coordinator.
Who approved the exception?
A woman named Denise Warren.
She had left Lakeview six months later.
Mara looked at Rebecca.
“Find her.”
Rebecca corrected gently.
“We request records. Investigators locate people if appropriate.”
Mara sighed.
“I’ve been around my father too long.”
That evening, Massimo met with Mara.
She showed him the billing entry.
He read it twice.
“Do you think Adrian used someone else’s sample?”
Mara’s face changed.
“I don’t know.”
Massimo regretted asking immediately.
That was the problem with fear.
It tried to become fact.
He put the paper down.
“We wait.”
Mara stared at him.
“That may be the first time you’ve ever said that voluntarily.”
“Don’t tell Claire.”
For a moment they almost smiled.
Then Mara said:
“If the baby isn’t Adrian’s, I need to know how that happened.”
Massimo looked at his daughter.
“You will.”
“And if the answer is something terrible?”
“Then it is still the answer.”
Mara placed one hand over her stomach.
“Dad.”
“Yes?”
“I did not cheat on him.”
“I know.”
“How?”
Massimo took his time.
“Because every fact we find keeps showing Adrian knew more about the paternity problem than you did.”
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That was clue number two.
The supposed betrayed husband had been managing the relevant medical process personally.
