Chương 5
The photographer’s three-second clip appeared online before the samples were collected.
It showed Julian frozen beneath the jet stairs, Serena clutching his arm, Evelyn standing across the dock, and Noah looking between them. The audio caught only one clear sentence.
You rented it. I own it.
Noah’s face had been partly obscured by a security officer, but not enough.
Within twenty minutes, strangers had enlarged the image, compared Julian’s childhood photographs, and drawn circles around the marks above their eyebrows.
Julian learned about the clip when his head of communications entered the library without knocking.
Mara Patel had worked for him for seven years and was one of three people in his professional life who did not become nervous when he was angry. She held up her phone.
“We have a problem.”
Evelyn looked at the screen and went pale.
“Take it down.”
“We’re sending notices, but copies are everywhere.”
“Noah’s face.”
“I know.”
“Then do something.”
Mara’s expression tightened. “We are.”
Julian said, “Who posted it?”
“An account belonging to a freelance entertainment producer. He says he received it from someone attending the wedding.”
“Who?”
“He won’t say.”
Evelyn unlocked her tablet and called her counsel.
Julian looked at Mara. “No statement about the child.”
“We need to say something. The delay is public, and the company launch on Monday is now attached to this.”
“I don’t care about Monday.”
Mara stared at him.
He corrected himself. “I care. It is not the first issue.”
“It will be for the board.”
“Then the board can wait.”
“They are already meeting.”
Of course they were. Ward Systems was scheduled to announce a medical-data partnership worth more than three billion dollars. Julian’s company had spent two years insisting it could be trusted with private information. Now its founder’s hidden possible child was trending beside phrases like secret heir, abandoned son, and billionaire island ambush.
None of those phrases was accurate. Accuracy had never been a requirement for momentum.
Evelyn stepped into the corridor to speak with her attorney.
The physician unpacked the testing kit.
Noah eyed the swabs suspiciously. “Is it a shot?”
“No,” the physician said. “It is like a tiny toothbrush for your cheek.”
“I have a toothbrush.”
“This one is less impressive.”
“Mine has a shark.”
“I cannot compete with that.”
Noah opened his mouth.
Julian watched the swab pass along the inside of the child’s cheek. Noah squirmed, laughed, then endured the second sample with offended dignity.
When Julian’s turn came, Noah watched closely.
“You get it too?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
The room went still.
Evelyn returned from the corridor but did not answer.
Julian crouched several feet away, careful not to move closer.
“Because the doctor is checking whether we belong to the same family.”
Noah frowned. “We don’t.”
“We might.”
“How?”
Julian searched for words that would not burden him.
“Sometimes adults learn important things later than they should.”
Noah looked at Evelyn. “Did you know?”
Her face changed. Pain passed through it so quickly a stranger might have missed it.
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you tell him?”
The physician lowered her eyes. Mara turned toward the window.
Evelyn sat beside Noah.
“I made a mistake.”
Noah absorbed this with more calm than the adults.
“Like when you forgot my boots?”
“A bigger mistake.”
“You found the boots.”
“I did.”
“Can you find this?”
Evelyn pressed her lips together.
“I’m trying.”
Noah leaned against her. The matter seemed settled for him, at least temporarily.
Julian submitted to the swab.
The samples were sealed, signed, witnessed, and placed in a locked container. The physician explained that expedited results would probably be available the next afternoon, though confirmation could take longer if the first analysis produced any irregularity.
Julian signed where she indicated.
His signature looked unfamiliar.
Afterward, Evelyn prepared to leave. Her security team had arranged a boat to a neighboring island where a helicopter could take her and Noah to Miami without passing the wedding guests.
Julian followed her to the shaded courtyard.
“I want to see him again.”
“If the test confirms paternity, our attorneys will discuss an introduction plan.”
“Our attorneys.”
“Yes.”
“He is not a merger.”
“No, but you tend to approach uncertainty by acquiring control.”
“That is unfair.”
“It is accurate.”
He stopped beside a stone fountain. Water slipped quietly over green tile.
“Do you hate me?”
Evelyn adjusted the strap of Noah’s canvas bag.
“Not reliably.”
He almost smiled. She did not.
“Why did you come personally?” he asked.
“The lease breach required an owner’s decision.”
“You have employees for that.”
“I saw your name on the booking.”
There it was.
“You wanted me to see him.”
“I wanted to stop hiding from the possibility.”
“That isn’t the same.”
“No.”
“Did you hope it would ruin the wedding?”
Her eyes met his.
“A small and ugly part of me did.”
He nodded.
“The rest?”
“The rest hoped I would arrive, complete the inspection, and leave before you landed.”
“You brought paternity-test arrangements.”
“I brought the contact information. The clinic made the arrangements after you arrived.”
He rubbed a hand over his mouth.
Behind Evelyn, Noah knelt beside the fountain and tried to touch a lizard. The lizard escaped into a crack. Noah told it, without resentment, that it was fast.
“I need to know why those photographs were taken,” Julian said.
“So do I.”
“You never found out?”
“My security team traced the messages through two disposable accounts. The images were probably taken by a private contractor.”
“Working for whom?”
“We don’t know.”
“Did you think it was me?”
“At first.”
“And later?”
“I thought it might be someone trying to frighten me into accusing you publicly.”
Julian looked toward the palms. “That would have worsened the breach investigation.”
“Yes.”
“Did your brother hire anyone?”
Evelyn’s gaze cooled. “Still?”
“I’m asking.”
“And I’m leaving.”
He caught himself before reaching for her arm.
“Evelyn.”
She stopped.
“I am sorry.”
“For which part?”
May you like
He had no answer large enough.
She nodded once, as though his silence confirmed something, then called to Noah.
