Before Mark could say another word, the hospital door burst open without a knock. Evelyn strode into the room, her eyebrows pinched in sharp anger, her designer heels clicking loudly on the floor.
Evelyn: Mark! What is taking so long? Lily should have been down in the car ten minutes ago! It's past her bedtime!
Mark: Mom... Look at this.
Mark stood up slowly, holding out the bank cashier's receipt. His voice was shaking, but a cold, deadly anger was rising in his eyes.
Evelyn: What is that nonsense? I don't have time to look at Clara's fake paperwork, Mark! Bring Lily down right now!
Mark: It's not Clara's paper, Mom! It's YOUR receipt! You dropped it on the floor right here when you were screaming at my wife this afternoon!
Evelyn froze. Her face turned pale white, and her eyes darted down to the paper in Mark's hand. For the first time in her life, she looked completely speechless.
Evelyn: Mark, darling... You don't understand... That was... That was a private corporate restructuring move for the family company!
Mark: Corporate restructuring? You stole two hundred and twenty thousand dollars from my children's trust fund and wired it to an offshore account in the Caymans! And then you told me Clara stole it!
Evelyn: I did it to protect you! She's a gold digger, Mark! She was going to take half of everything you owned in a divorce anyway!
Mark: I wasn't getting a divorce until YOU manufactured this entire lie! You made me accuse my faithful wife of cheating! You made me refuse to hold my own newborn son!
Evelyn: That child isn't yours, Mark! You don't know what she does when you're at the office!
Mark: Shut up! Just shut up, Mom!
Clara: Show her the DNA results email, Mark. Check your phone. Nurse Sarah said the expedited electronic report would arrive by nine o'clock.
Mark pulled his smartphone out of his pocket with trembling fingers. He opened his primary email inbox and tapped on the urgent notification from the Dallas Medical Central Laboratory. He scrolled down through the formal legal text until his eyes landed on the final bold line at the bottom of the document.
Mark: The probability of paternity is 99.999%... He is my son. He is my biological son!
Evelyn: The lab made a mistake! They mixed up the vials! I told you we should have used my attorney's certified kit!
Mark: Your kit was fake, wasn't it, Mom? You were going to pay off a private lab to forge a negative result so I would abandon my wife and baby!
Evelyn: Mark, listen to me! I am your mother! Everything I ever did was for your own good!
Mark: Get out.
Evelyn: Mark, don't speak to me like that!
Mark: GET OUT OF THIS ROOM BEFORE I CALL THE POLICE AND HAVE YOU ARRESTED FOR GRAND LARCENY RIGHT NOW!
At that exact moment, two uniformed Dallas hospital security officers stepped into the doorway behind Evelyn, accompanied by Nurse Sarah and a local police detective holding a notepad.
Detective Roberts: Mrs. Evelyn Vance? I am Detective Roberts with the Dallas Financial Crimes Division. We have a warrant to question you regarding illegal bank transfers and evidence tampering. Please step into the hallway with us.
Evelyn gasped, clutching her Chanel handbag to her chest, her face completely drained of color. She looked back at Mark, pleading with her eyes, but Mark turned his back on her, refusing to look at her face ever again. The officers calmly escorted her out into the hallway, closing the door behind them.
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