Chapter 5 - THE DNA TEST AMELIA HID
Rachel Stone’s file included one laboratory invoice.
Paternity analysis.
Victor stared.
“Amelia tested us?”
Paige nodded.
Eight years earlier.
Samples:
Victor Bellacosta.
Millie Bellacosta.
“How did she get mine?”
“Stored medical sample from your physical, released under marital authorization.”
Victor felt violated.
Then remembered the context.
Matteo’s circle preparing paternity questions.
Amelia needed proof before anyone challenged the child.
Result:
99.99% probability Victor was Millie’s biological father.
No ambiguity.
Victor sat back.
That should have ended everything.
It had.
Legally.
The amended birth certificate used marital presumption plus supporting DNA under seal.
Millie was his.
Biologically.
Legally.
Emotionally.
Every way that mattered.
Corinne knew.
That was the worst part.
Her assistant’s files included a copy of the test.
She had obtained it four months earlier.
She knew Millie was Victor’s biological daughter.
Still called her “your mistake.”
Still implied otherwise.
Victor felt rage.
Then remembered the tooth.
He had kept it.
Why had Corinne looked down at it after the slap?
Security footage answered.
After Millie stumbled, Corinne’s eyes went directly to the tooth.
She bent slightly.
Then Victor entered.
Was she trying to retrieve it?
Paige asked Corinne through counsel.
The answer came the next day.
Yes.
Why?
Corinne claimed:
“I wanted an independent sample.”
Victor nearly laughed.
“You already had the old DNA report.”
Corinne’s written response:
I had reason to question chain of custody.
Convenient.
She wanted fresh DNA.
From Millie.
Without consent.
Had she slapped Millie to knock out the loose tooth?
Evidence did not prove that.
Millie said her tooth had been “really wiggly.”
Corinne had known because Millie had shown everyone at breakfast.
Paige warned:
“Do not assume the slap was intended to extract DNA.”
Victor agreed.
Facts mattered.
But Corinne’s immediate attempt to pick up the tooth showed opportunity.
Her plan had adapted fast.
What would she compare it to?
Not Victor.
She did not have his fresh DNA.
Then Paige found another lab order in Corinne’s files.
Requested test:
KINSHIP / GRANDPARENTAL LINE.
Reference sample:
C.V.
Claire Voss.
Corinne’s late mother.
Victor frowned.
“What does Claire have to do with Millie biologically?”
Nothing.
Which meant Corinne was not testing paternity.
She was testing something else.
A family relationship?
Impossible.
Then Rachel Stone’s archive revealed a startling note Amelia wrote:
Claire keeps saying Millie “belongs to our side more than Victor understands.”
Victor stared.
Their side?
Was Claire related to Amelia?
Paige began genealogy research.
That led somewhere unexpected.
Claire Voss and Amelia Bellacosta shared a maternal grandfather.
Second cousins.
Distant but real.
Corinne therefore had a remote biological relationship to Amelia.
Not important normally.
But Corinne had apparently convinced herself that a hospital alias and shared family connection could support a claim that Millie’s mother was actually Claire’s branch.
Absurd?
Mostly.
Then the lab request clarified:
MATERNAL LINEAGE COMPARISON.
She wanted to establish whether Millie descended from the Voss maternal line.
She did.
Through Amelia.
But that did not make Corinne her guardian or heir.
So why care?
Because Voss Management’s old compensation contract contained a clause:
If control of the descendant trust passed to a beneficiary from the Voss-descended maternal branch, certain termination payments could be reinstated.
A bizarre old related-party agreement.
Drafted decades earlier when families mixed business and blood.
Corinne saw an opening.
If Millie was biologically linked to Claire’s maternal branch—
Corinne might claim the Voss contract remained active.
Millions.
But she needed proof.
The old DNA report proved paternity.
Not maternal line.
The tooth could.
Victor stared at the tiny velvet pouch on his desk.
Millie’s Tooth Fairy treasure had become evidence in an adult money fight.
Disgusting.
He refused testing.
Not necessary.
Amelia’s maternity was documented.
Hospital records.
Pregnancy records.
Birth photos.
No legitimate dispute.
Corinne’s Voss claim would be decided through contracts.
Not by taking DNA from a child.
Paige smiled.
“Good.”
Victor looked at her.
“What?”
“You’re separating legal curiosity from what Millie actually needs.”
He hated praise almost as much as criticism.
“Don’t.”
That evening Millie asked about the tooth.
“Can Tooth Fairy have it now?”
Victor stared.
Then laughed.
“Yes.”
“Why are you laughing?”
“Because adults made your tooth very complicated.”
“That’s weird.”
“Correct.”
He put five dollars beneath her pillow.
Millie woke furious.
“Five?”
Victor stared.
“What’s wrong with five?”
“It’s inflation.”
He called Paige.
May you like
“This is somehow your fault.”
For the first time in days, the Bellacosta house sounded normal.
