Chapter 3 - THE TEST THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING|
Sarah insisted on two independent paternity tests.
Stefan agreed without hesitation, even when his advisers warned him that the results could become international news.
"I don't want a public announcement," Sarah told Elena. "I don't want strangers calling me his heiress. I want the truth."
"That's exactly how we'll proceed," Elena promised.
During the waiting period, Sarah stayed in a discreet Manhattan hotel. She refused Stefan's offer to move into his estate until she understood who he was beyond the headlines.
They met for breakfast twice. The first time, he ordered too much food. The second time, he admitted that he had never learned to make coffee properly.
"You built an international business empire but can't operate a coffee machine?" Sarah asked.
"I delegate intelligently."
She laughed despite herself.
The sound seemed to surprise Stefan. He looked at her as if hearing a familiar melody after decades of silence.
Then the laboratory results arrived.
The probability of biological paternity exceeded 99.99 percent.
Sarah read the report alone before inviting Stefan inside.
He studied the document, sat down, and covered his mouth with one hand.
"I should have found you."
"You didn't know where I was."
"I should have known something was wrong."
Sarah sat opposite him.
"I spent years thinking my mother abandoned me because she didn't want me."
Stefan's eyes glistened.
"She loved you. I cannot prove every part of your childhood, but I can tell you that she loved you when she was alive."
"Then why did she leave?"
"I don't know."
His honesty mattered more than a comforting lie.
Sarah agreed to meet him again, this time at a small Italian restaurant away from reporters.
He brought another photograph of Maria, this one showing her holding a newborn wrapped in a yellow blanket.
On the back, someone had written a date and two initials: M.C. and S.V.
Sarah recognized the birth date from her foster-care file.
"That's me."
"Yes."
"Who took this picture?"
Stefan turned it over.
"My mother."
Sarah frowned.
"You said your family knew Maria?"
"They knew of her. My mother opposed our relationship because she believed Maria would complicate the family business."
"Did she know about the baby?"
"I believe she did."
The admission cast a shadow over their fragile new relationship.
That afternoon, Elena obtained permission to review a limited set of historical records. One document showed that Maria had entered a private medical clinic in New York under an alias shortly before Sarah's birth.
A second document had been sealed.
A third contained the name of the person who paid the hospital bill.
Beatrice Montgomery.
Sarah read the name twice.
"Why would Richard's grandmother—or someone with the same name—pay for my mother's medical care?"
Elena looked concerned.
"We need to verify whether this was your mother-in-law or another person with that name."
Stefan leaned forward.
"Then we verify it."
Sarah gathered the papers.
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For the first time, she was no longer searching for a father.
She was investigating the family that had spent three years telling her she belonged nowhere.
