Chapter 9 - The Woman in the Green Dress
Claire did not answer Serena immediately.
Maya did.
She sent three words.
Call my office.
Serena arrived forty minutes later wearing a black wool coat and no makeup.
She looked nothing like the polished woman from corporate photographs.
Her eyes were red.
She carried a manila envelope.
Claire remained seated beside Lily's carrier.
Maya took the chair between them.
"Start at the beginning."
Serena looked at Claire.
"I'm sorry."
Claire's expression did not change.
"For what?"
"For not contacting you sooner."
"That isn't an answer."
Serena nodded.
"No."
She placed the envelope on the table.
"Margaret approached my father eight months ago."
Claire stayed silent.
"She said Hale North was temporarily overleveraged but had strong assets."
Maya asked, "Did she identify Birch Street as one of those assets?"
"Yes."
Claire felt her jaw tighten.
Serena continued.
"She said the house was controlled by the family."
"It isn't."
"I know that now."
"Did Ethan tell you it was?"
Serena looked uncomfortable.
"Ethan didn't talk to me about the house."
"What did Ethan talk to you about?"
Serena's eyes dropped.
"Our families."
Claire waited.
Serena swallowed.
"Margaret wanted my father to invest more."
"What does that have to do with you?"
"Everything."
Serena opened the envelope.
Inside were printed messages.
Margaret had written to Serena repeatedly.
Ethan is loyal but trapped in a marriage that has become unhealthy.
Claire is unstable.
The pregnancy has made things worse.
If Ethan were free, the Cole-Hale partnership could become more than business.
Claire read the messages without reacting.
Serena watched her.
"I never agreed to an affair."
"Did you sleep with him?"
"No."
"Did you kiss him?"
Serena hesitated.
Claire's chest tightened.
"Once."
Maya looked up.
"When?"
"Six weeks before Lily was born."
Claire's face went still.
Serena continued quickly.
"It was at the Chicago conference."
"Ethan told me he flew home early."
"He didn't."
The betrayal landed differently from everything else.
It was not as loud as the crib breaking.
It was not as shocking as the forged signature.
It was smaller.
Personal.
Ordinary.
That made it cruel.
"What happened?" Claire asked.
Serena looked miserable.
"We had drinks after a client dinner."
"How many?"
"Two."
"And then?"
"He kissed me."
Claire stared at her.
"Did you stop him?"
"Not immediately."
There was no good answer.
Serena knew that.
"I stopped it before anything else happened."
"Did you tell him you wanted to replace me?"
"No."
"Did Margaret?"
Serena nodded.
"She told me the marriage would be over soon."
Claire's fingers tightened around the edge of the table.
"Before the paternity report?"
"Yes."
"How long before?"
"At least a month."
Maya leaned forward.
"Do you have proof?"
Serena slid out another page.
It was a text from Margaret dated five weeks before Lily's birth.
Once the test issue surfaces, Ethan will finally see what everyone else sees.
Claire read it.
"What test issue?"
Serena shook her head.
"I asked."
Margaret's reply was printed beneath it.
A matter of biological certainty.
Claire's skin prickled.
Maya's voice was calm.
"Did Margaret ever mention a laboratory?"
"Yes."
Serena removed one final document.
A receipt.
Northlake Genetic Diagnostics.
The amount was $4,800.
The cardholder name was MHC Strategic Services.
Margaret's company.
The description read private genetic consultation and report preparation.
Claire looked at Maya.
Maya did not smile.
"This is useful."
Serena nodded.
"My father paid for dinner with Margaret the night she showed us the report."
"What report?"
"The one claiming Lily wasn't Ethan's."
Claire's stomach tightened.
"She showed it to your father?"
"Yes."
"Before Ethan saw it?"
Serena's silence answered.
Claire stood.
The room suddenly felt airless.
"She showed strangers a fake paternity report about my baby before she showed my husband."
Serena looked ashamed.
"Yes."
Claire walked to the window.
Snow had started again.
Small flakes tapped the glass.
"Why are you helping me?"
Serena's answer came quietly.
"Because yesterday Margaret told my father she wanted him to accelerate the Birch Street purchase before you could interfere."
Claire turned.
"And?"
"I told her I wouldn't be part of it."
Serena's face tightened.
"She told me I already was."
Maya asked, "What did she mean?"
Serena reached into her coat pocket and placed a small voice recorder on the table.
"I started carrying this after the conference."
Claire stared.
"Why?"
"Because Margaret scares me."
She pressed play.
Margaret's voice filled the office.
You don't need to feel guilty about Claire.
By the time the baby is three months old, Ethan will have custody, the trust will be contained, and the house will be ours to leverage.
Serena's recorded voice asked, What if the paternity test is proven false?
Margaret laughed softly.
Then we'll make Claire look unstable enough that nobody cares.
The recording ended.
Claire looked at Maya.
"Can we use that?"
"Possibly."
Serena spoke again.
"There's more."
She opened her phone.
A photograph showed Margaret at a restaurant with a man in a grey suit.
Claire did not recognize him.
Maya did.
"That's Dr. Alan Mercer."
"Who is he?" Claire asked.
"Former medical director at Northlake Genetic Diagnostics."
Serena nodded.
"He left the company two years ago."
Claire stared at the photo.
"When was this taken?"
"Four days before Margaret threw you out."
Maya zoomed in.
A white envelope sat on the table between Margaret and Dr. Mercer.
On the envelope, someone had written two names.
Claire.
Lily.
Claire's phone buzzed again.
This time the message came from Ethan.
Mom says Serena is lying.
Please don't believe her.
Claire looked at Serena.
Then at the receipt.
Then at the recording.
Then she typed a reply.
May you like
For the first time, she answered Ethan without emotion.
I'm done believing what your mother says.
