Chapter 3 - The Secret in the Code
Victoria sat in her private, soundproof office. The single strand of dark hair sat inside a sterile plastic biohazard bag on her mahogany desk. Next to it was a swab from the inside of her own cheek.
For an hour, she just stared at them.
If she sent this to the lab, there was no going back. If she was wrong, she was a paranoid, grieving fool. But if she was right... the entire Sterling dynasty was built on a lie.
She picked up her private line and dialed a number that bypassed all secretaries.
"Dr. Aris. It’s Victoria Sterling."
"Victoria. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"I am sending a courier to your private clinic. Two samples. I want a full, expedited DNA maternity sequence. I don't want this in any official database. I don't want paper records. You run the test yourself, and you call me with the results. Understood?"
"Understood. Are you alright, Victoria?"
"I will let you know in twenty-four hours," she replied, hanging up.
That night, Victoria couldn't sleep. She paced the length of her master suite. She thought back to the day she gave birth. It had been chaotic. A massive storm, a power outage at the private hospital, emergency protocols. They had whisked her baby away to the NICU for observation. When they brought the baby back, she had blonde hair and blue eyes. Victoria’s late husband had been blonde, so it made sense.
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But the feeling... the horrific, invisible severing of the maternal bond... it had started the moment they placed Isabelle in her arms.
Down in the servant's quarters, Elena was also awake. She sat on her narrow cot, holding the faded polaroid of her adoptive mother. Don't let it harden your spirit, she reminded herself. But the cruelty of the Sterling house was testing her limits.
