Chapter 3 – The Bloodline

I stared at the crayon drawing. The tall man had yellow hair and a blue shirt.

Marcus, Vanessa’s fiancé, had blonde hair.

“Marcus is Leo’s father,” I whispered, the sickening reality washing over me.

“Yes,” Arthur said coldly. “Five years ago, my son and your sister had a brief, reckless affair. When Vanessa got pregnant, your mother panicked. She knew a scandal would ruin Vanessa’s chances of marrying into our family properly. So, she hid the pregnancy, sent Vanessa to ‘study’ in Milan, and arranged for the baby to be quietly absorbed into your life under the guise of adoption.”

I looked at Vanessa. She was staring at the table, refusing to look at me.

“You knew Marcus was the father this whole time?” I asked her, my voice trembling. “And you’re marrying him next spring?”

Vanessa sniffled, dabbing her eyes. “I love him, Rebecca. We were so young back then. We weren’t ready to be parents. But we are now.”

“You aren’t parents,” I snapped. “I am Leo’s mother. I have raised him. I sat up with him when he had pneumonia. I taught him how to walk. You are just the woman who abandoned him.”

“Don’t speak to your sister that way,” Mom hissed.

“Arthur,” I said, ignoring her and turning to the man at the end of the table. “Why are you doing this? If you’ve known about the embezzlement and the child, why blow it all up today?”

Arthur’s face hardened. “Because Marcus found out about Leo last week. He wants his son back. And frankly, I want my heir raised in my house, not by a woman who is about to be indicted for corporate fraud.”

The trap finally made sense.

The $280,000 wasn’t just to pay Arthur’s blackmail. My parents and Vanessa had deliberately engineered the missing funds to point to me. They wanted me to sign that confession today in front of the auditors. They wanted me convicted of embezzlement.

Because a convicted felon would lose custody of her adopted child.

“You set me up to go to prison,” I said, looking at my parents. “Just so Vanessa could take my son without a custody battle.”

Dad buried his face in his hands. “Evelyn told me it was the only way to fix things. She said you would just get probation. We were going to pay your legal fees.”

“You disgust me,” I said.

I stood up and grabbed my purse.

“Where are you going?” Arthur demanded. “The audit isn’t finished.”

“I don’t care about the audit,” I said, shoving my chair in. “I’m getting my son.”

I ran out of the conference room and hit the elevator button repeatedly. My heart hammered against my ribs. I had to get to Leo’s elementary school before they tried anything else. I had legally adopted him; they couldn’t just take him. But with Arthur Vance’s money and influence, I couldn’t take any chances.

I sprinted to my car in the parking garage, tires squealing as I sped toward Greenwood Academy. The drive usually took twenty minutes. I made it in ten.

I abandoned my car at the curb and ran into the front office.

“Mrs. Harrison,” the school secretary said, looking surprised. “You’re back early.”

“I need to pick up Leo,” I said, out of breath.

The secretary frowned, tapping her keyboard. “But… you already picked him up.”

“What?” I gripped the edge of the counter. “No, I didn’t. I was at work.”

“Your mother picked him up thirty minutes ago,” the secretary said. “She said there was a family emergency and you asked her to get him.”

Panic, cold and sharp, pierced my chest. “You let him go with her?”

“She’s on the approved pickup list, Rebecca,” the secretary said defensively.

I turned and ran down the hall toward Leo’s kindergarten classroom. The room was empty, the kids out at recess. But hanging on the hook in his cubby was his bright red coat.

Leo never went anywhere without that coat. He had sensory issues; he loved the soft lining. If my mother had taken him gently, he would have brought it.

He hadn’t wanted to go.

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