Part 2: Three Tables Away
The red folder lay open on the white linen tablecloth, the laboratory seal glowing beneath the artificial stage lights. Natalie’s hands dropped from her stomach, her fingers shaking so violently she had to lean against the floral arch to keep from collapsing.
"No..." Natalie stammered, her voice cracking without the microphone. "You're lying. You're just trying to humiliate me because you lost him. Eric, tell her she's crazy!"
But Eric couldn't speak. He was looking at the back table where Grant Miller had been sitting. More specifically, he was looking at the man sitting next to Grant—a man whose face was now contorted in a mix of panic and profound guilt.
It was Julian Vance, Eric’s billionaire business partner and the primary investor in our family's real estate firm.
A collective murmur rippled through the three hundred guests as Julian slowly stood up, adjusting his tuxedo jacket with trembling hands. His wife, sitting right beside him, stared at him in absolute horror, realizing what the laboratory seal implied before anyone else did.
"Maddie, let's take this inside," Julian pleaded, his voice carrying over the silent lawn. "We don't need to do this in front of the investors."
"Oh, we are doing this right here, Julian," I said, my voice echoing over the speakers. I pointed to the paper. "For four months, my sister thought she was running a brilliant operation. She thought she was hurting me by taking my husband, completely blind to the fact that Eric was utilizing her to keep an eye on you. And you, Julian, were utilizing her to get back at Eric for a bad land development deal."
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Natalie looked between Julian and Eric, her voice rising to a hysterical pitch. "Julian? What is she talking about? Eric, you told me I was the only one!"
"You were a distraction, Natalie," I said, stepping between her and my husband. "Eric didn't love you. He used your debts to manipulate you into spying on Julian's private accounts. But it seems you and Julian got a little too comfortable during your secret meetings in Brooklyn. The private investigator didn't just take photos of you and my husband. He tracked your medical appointments. This DNA test was conducted using a non-invasive prenatal paternity test from a blood draw you did last month, authorized by a court order regarding corporate espionage. Eric is sterile, Natalie. He's been sterile since an injury in the military twelve years ago. I knew it. He knew it. You were the only one left in the dark."
