Chapter 3 - the hidden envelope
Dominic walked into Maisie’s bedroom. The room was quiet, lit only by a soft nightlight near the window. Maisie was fast asleep on the plush velvet sofa in the corner under the watch of two armed bodyguards.
Dominic gestured for the guards to step outside. He walked over to Maisie’s four-poster bed, reached beneath the heavy mattress, and pulled out a thick brown manila envelope sealed with black wax.
He broke the seal. Inside was an official medical document from St. Jude’s Hospital, dated seven years ago—the night Maisie was born.
Dominic scanned the text rapidly. His eyes stopped at the bottom line.
According to the blood panel attached to the file, Maisie’s blood type was O-negative. But Dominic’s late wife, Elena, had been AB-positive, and Dominic was A-positive. Scientifically, two parents with those blood types could never produce an O-negative child.
Dominic’s fingers gripped the paper tightly, creasing the edge.
"Boss?" Mateo stepped into the room softly. "Is everything alright?"
"Who had access to St. Jude’s archives seven years ago?" Dominic asked without looking up.
"Dr. Vance," Mateo replied instantly. "He was the chief obstetrician who delivered Maisie. He’s been the Bellaro family physician for twenty years."
"Find him," Dominic commanded. "Bring him to his private clinic in Midtown right now."
Twenty minutes later, the iron gates of Dr. Vance's Midtown clinic swung open. Dominic walked through the dark lobby, his boots echoing off the marble floor.
Dr. Vance sat behind his wooden desk, trembling as Dominic entered. The old doctor’s forehead was drenched in sweat.
"Dominic... please," Vance stammered, raising his hands. "I didn't have a choice!"
Dominic placed the medical document on the desk between them. "Explain this blood report, Vance. Is Maisie my daughter or not?"
Dr. Vance swallowed hard, looking at the door behind Dominic. "That paper in your hand is a forgery, Dominic! Someone forged my signature three weeks ago!"
"Who?" Dominic barked.
"I don't know!" Vance gasped. "A woman called me last month. She paid five hundred thousand dollars into my offshore account to keep quiet about a missing file. But I swear on my life, your real daughter's file was stolen from the hospital vault three days ago!"
Dominic took a step closer, towering over the desk. "Who stole it?"
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Dr. Vance turned pale, his eyes darting toward the window. "She didn't give her name, but she left an audio recording to prove she had power over my family. I saved it on my desk phone..."
Vance reached out his hand to press the play button on his office phone, but before his finger touched the plastic, a sharp crack echoed through the night air. The glass window behind Vance shattered into thousands of pieces, and a high-powered rifle bullet slammed into the center of the doctor's chest.
