Chapter 3 - TRACES OF THE TRUTH
The following week,
I arranged a meeting at the Meridian Healthcare headquarters.
Christopher was still the acting CFO,
though rumors of the audit had begun to circulate like a poison through the halls.
I walked through the lobby,
my head held high,
wearing a suit that cost more than Sabrina’s car.
People whispered as I passed,
some with pity,
some with curiosity.
I entered the boardroom where the senior partners were gathered,
including Christopher,
who looked disheveled and frantic.
He jumped to his feet when he saw me.
"Stephanie,
this is a private meeting,
you have no right to be here!"
he shouted.
I ignored him and sat at the head of the table.
"Actually,
Christopher,
as the primary beneficiary of the trust that holds forty percent of Meridian's voting shares,
I have every right."
The room went silent.
Christopher’s face went from red to a ghostly white.
He had always assumed his father's old connections would protect him,
but he forgot that those connections were tied to my family's bank account.
"I’m here to present the findings of my own private investigation,"
I said,
laying the DNA reports on the mahogany table.
"It seems there has been a significant misunderstanding regarding the Gilbert lineage."
I slid the papers toward the CEO,
a man who had known Christopher’s father for forty years.
As he read the documents,
his brow furrowed,
and he looked up at Christopher with a mixture of disgust and confusion.
"Christopher,
is this true?"
the CEO asked,
his voice booming.
"Is what true?
She's lying!
She’s bitter because she couldn't give me children!"
Christopher scrambled for the papers,
but the CEO held them out of reach.
"These are certified lab results,
Christopher.
They state quite clearly that you are not the father of those twins."
The silence that followed was deafening.
Christopher turned to me,
his eyes wide with a manic sort of desperation.
"You did this.
You swapped the samples.
You're trying to destroy me!"
"I didn't need to destroy you,
Christopher,"
I said softly.
"You and Sabrina did that all by yourselves.
You were so desperate for a 'real family' that you didn't even stop to ask if the woman you were sleeping with was as loyal to you as I was."
I stood up,
straightening my jacket.
"And by the way,
Marcus Thorne is looking for his children.
He’s already been in contact with my legal team."
That was the final blow.
Marcus hadn't been fired for being late;
he had been fired because Christopher found him a bit too close to Sabrina.
But Christopher was too arrogant to believe his mistress would ever look at the help.
He thought his status and his money made him invincible.
I walked out of the boardroom,
leaving Christopher to face the men who had once been his mentors.
As I reached the elevator,
I saw Sabrina standing in the hallway,
holding one of the infants.
She looked terrified,
her bravado completely evaporated.
"Stephanie,
please,"
she whispered,
reaching out a hand.
"I have nowhere to go."
I looked at her,
the sister I had protected,
the girl I had raised when our mother was too busy with her own social life.
"You have Marcus,"
I said.
"And you have the choices you made.
Don't ever call me again."
The elevator doors closed,
cutting off the sound of her beginning to cry.
I felt a strange emptiness where my anger used to be.
May you like
It wasn't joy,
it was just peace.
