Chapter 2
Lena Holloway answered Cassian’s lawyer before she answered Cassian.
That was sensible.
Cassian appreciated it even while hating the distance.
His family-law attorney, Rebecca Shaw, arranged a video conference the next morning.
Lena appeared from a small office.
Forty-one.
Older than Cassian remembered, naturally.
Same direct eyes.
Same habit of folding her arms when she did not trust someone.
Cassian spoke first.
“Did you tell Jace I’m his father?”
“Yes.”
“When?”
“Three months ago.”
“Why then?”
“Because the payments stopped.”
Cassian frowned.
“What payments?”
Lena stared at him.
Then laughed once.
Not because anything was funny.
“You’re still doing this.”
“Doing what?”
“Pretending you don’t know.”
Rebecca intervened.
“Ms. Holloway, we’re here because Cassian is prepared to establish paternity independently.”
Lena looked at her.
“I already did.”
She held up a report.
Private DNA testing.
A sample attributed to Cassian had been compared to Jace.
Probability of paternity above 99.99 percent.
Cassian’s jaw tightened.
“How did you get my DNA?”
“Old toothbrush.”
He stared.
Lena almost smiled.
“You stayed at my apartment.”
Fourteen years ago.
The timeline fit.
Still, Rebecca said:
“We’ll need a legally documented test.”
“Fine.”
Cassian leaned toward the camera.
“Why did you never tell me you were pregnant?”
Lena’s expression changed completely.
“I did.”
Silence.
“No.”
“Yes.”
“You never contacted me.”
“I went to your office.”
Cassian felt cold.
“When?”
“Two months after you ended things.”
“I wasn’t practicing in my own office yet.”
“You were at Vale & Vale.”
That was true.
Cassian had just joined his father’s criminal-defense firm.
Lena continued.
“You were in court. Your father met me.”
Cassian stopped breathing for a moment.
“Arthur?”
“Yes.”
Arthur Vale.
Seventy-one now.
Retired founding partner.
Cassian’s father.
Lena’s voice hardened.
“He said you didn’t want a child. He said your career was starting, you were already seeing someone else, and you wanted everything handled privately.”
Cassian shook his head.
“I never said that.”
“I know that now.”
“What happened?”
“Your father arranged an attorney.”
“Name?”
“Gerald Moss.”
Cassian knew him.
Former Vale firm counsel.
Dead six years.
Lena continued.
“There was a support agreement. No formal paternity acknowledgment. Monthly payments. Education expenses. Medical coverage.”
Cassian stared.
“Whose name was on it?”
“Yours.”
Rebecca’s pen stopped.
“What?”
Lena opened a file.
A thirteen-year-old letter appeared on screen.
Cassian Vale at the bottom.
His signature.
His firm letterhead.
The message stated that Cassian did not contest probable paternity but did not want personal contact.
It offered private support through a family account.
Cassian read the first paragraph.
Then the second.
He knew before the signature.
“I didn’t write that.”
Lena’s face tightened.
“You expect me to believe—”
“Yes.”
His voice did not rise.
“I did not write that.”
She stared at him.
Cassian continued.
“Did I ever call you?”
“No.”
“Email?”
“No.”
“Meet Jace?”
“No.”
“Send a birthday card?”
“No.”
“Then what exactly did you believe I was doing?”
Lena’s eyes filled with anger.
“Paying.”
That word landed.
Cassian looked at Rebecca.
“Find the account.”
Then back at Lena.
“Why did the payments stop?”
“Four months ago.”
“How long were they coming?”
“Thirteen years.”
Cassian closed his eyes.
Someone had spent thirteen years paying a child in his name.
May you like
And four months ago, someone had decided to stop.
That was almost exactly when Cassian announced the most aggressive internal compliance review in the history of Vale & Vale.
