Chapter 5 - the wrong blood
Dominic picked up the legal document. His eyes scanned the heavy parchment.
The signature at the bottom was unquestionably Julian Ferraro's frantic, sweeping scrawl. The date matched: drafted eighteen months ago, just weeks before Julian succumbed to pancreatic cancer. It established a blind trust for a male child born on October 14th in Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
October 14th was Noah’s birthday.
Anna looked at the paper from across the room, her breath catching in her throat. "That doesn't make sense. How would Julian even know his birthday? I never filed for child support. I never registered his birth under the Ferraro name!"
"Because Julian was tracking you," Vivienne said, her voice dripping with counterfeit sympathy. "He was taking care of his blood from a distance, Dominic. He didn't want you to know because he knew what you would do to him. He knew you would kill him if you thought he touched your woman."
Dominic’s jaw remained tight, but a flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. Julian had always been deceitful. He had always operated in shadows.
"Dominic," Anna said, her voice dropping to a desperate plead. She walked right up to the desk, ignoring the guards. "Look at Noah. Look at his face. He has your hands. He has your eyes. I swear on my mother’s grave, no man touched me after that night. No one."
"Words are cheap, darling," Vivienne scoffed. "A two-million-dollar trust signed by Julian Ferraro is legal fact."
Dominic looked at the small boy sitting on the leather sofa. Noah was rubbing his eyes, clutching the empty glass of milk.
"Mateo," Dominic said.
The security chief stepped out of the shadows. "Yes, Boss."
"Call Dr. Vance. Have him bring the mobile testing kit from the private ward. I want a rush paternity panel. Both Julian’s preserved marrow samples from the vault and mine."
Vivienne’s smile faltered for a fraction of a second, but she quickly recovered. "A DNA test? Of course. Let's do it right now. It will prove once and for all that this child belongs to Julian's estate, which means as his legal widow, I am his rightful guardian."
Anna’s eyes widened with pure horror. "What did you say?"
"If the boy is Julian’s illegitimate son, his inheritance falls under the Ferraro widow's guardianship until he is twenty-one," Vivienne said smoothly, a cold gleam in her eyes. "That means he stays with me. And you, Anna, will be out on the street where you belong."
"You will never touch my son!" Anna screamed, lunging toward Vivienne, but Mateo caught her by the shoulder, holding her back.
"Stop it!" Dominic’s voice boomed through the room like thunder, shaking the crystal light above them.
The room instantly snapped to silence.
Dominic walked around the desk, standing directly in front of Noah. He knelt down slowly.
"Roll up your sleeve, Noah," Dominic said softly.
Noah looked at his mother. Anna nodded through her tears, swallowing hard. "It's okay, baby. Just do what he says."
Noah rolled up his left sleeve. Along his inner forearm, right below the elbow, was a pale, distinct birthmark shaped like an irregular crescent moon.
Dominic stared at the birthmark. His breath caught in his throat.
He slowly unbuttoned his own left cuff, rolling back the heavy black silk of his sleeve. On his forearm, in the exact same spot, was the identical pale crescent mark.
Vivienne looked at Dominic’s arm. Her face lost every shred of color.
"Julian didn't have that mark," Dominic said, his voice terrifyingly quiet. "Neither did our father. My grandfather had it. And I have it."
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Dominic turned his head toward Vivienne. The warmth in his eyes was completely gone, replaced by a black, bottomless abyss.
"Julian’s marrow won't match this boy," Dominic said. "So tell me, Vivienne... why did my dying brother sign a document pretending to be the father of my son?"
