I Noticed My Maid’s Son Had the Same Birthmark as Me—Then His Hospital Papers Listed Me as His Father.

The grand hall remained paralyzed. Two hundred of the most dangerous men and women in the city watched the man who ruled them stare at a seven-year-old piece of paper.

"Claire," Victor said, his tone deadly calm. "Look at me."

Claire raised her chin, her rosy cheeks stained with tears, but her blue eyes held a fierce, maternal defiance. "I took what they gave me because they said you would kill him before he took his first breath. They said an heir from a housekeeper was an insult to your bloodline."

"Who gave you the order?" Victor took one measured step toward her. "Was it a man or a woman?"

"A man brought the money to the clinic," Claire said, her voice shaking. "He handed me fifty thousand dollars in cash and a plane ticket to Chicago. He told me if I ever returned to New York, both Eli and I would end up at the bottom of the Hudson."

A quiet rustle rippled through the front row of tables. Celeste was already back on her feet, smoothing down her emerald gown with trembling fingers. Her composure was slipping, but her venom was not.

"Victor, this is an extortion scheme," Celeste hissed, stepping behind the heavy mahogany chair. "She disappeared seven years ago right after your brother’s funeral! Now she shows up the night before our formal wedding announcement with some orphan child?"

Victor didn't look at Celeste. His eyes remained locked on Eli, who was clutching his mother’s apron, peeking out at the towering boss.

"The cufflink the boy picked up," Victor said softly. "Where did he find it?"

"Under your chair, sir," Eli whispered, his small voice clear in the silence.

Victor reached into his tuxedo pocket and pulled out his own set of cufflinks. Both were accounted for, heavy gold carved with the Bellandi crest.

Victor looked down at the cufflink in Eli's hand. It was an identical Bellandi crest—but the gold was tarnished around the rim, worn by age.

"This isn't mine," Victor murmured. "This belonged to my older brother, Marco."