Chapter 8
I ordered an independent DNA test.
For two days, I barely slept.
Biology would not change the way I loved Noah.
But another hidden truth could change the murder investigation.
The results showed that Noah was my biological son.
Vanessa had lied again.
Detective Brooks believed she wanted to create conflict between us before trial.
Then the laboratory found something unusual.
Noah’s DNA matched another sample in a national criminal database.
The sample belonged to Lydia Shaw.
She was not Noah’s mother.
But she was a close biological relative of Emily.
When confronted, Lydia confessed that Emily was her half sister.
Their father had maintained two families.
Emily never knew Lydia existed.
Lydia knew everything.
She resented Emily for growing up with money, education, and love.
When Eric approached her, she did not help only for payment.
She wanted Emily’s life destroyed.
“Did you ask Eric to kill her?” Brooks demanded.
“No.”
“Did you tell him where she would be?”
“Yes.”
“Did you warn her?”
“No.”
Lydia’s jealousy had opened the door.
Eric’s greed walked through it.
Prosecutors charged her with conspiracy in Emily’s murder.
The revelation explained why she knew so much about Emily’s family trust.
She had spent years studying the sister who never knew her.
The trial began four months later.
Noah did not testify in open court.
A child specialist recorded his statement.
He explained how Vanessa threatened to send him away.
He described hiding beneath the desk.
He showed investigators where he placed Emily’s phone.
When asked why he punctured Vanessa’s fake belly, he lowered his head.
“I thought it was the only way Dad would believe me.”
I cried as I watched from the courtroom.
No child should have to create a public explosion to make an adult see danger.
Vanessa’s attorney argued that she faked the pregnancy because she feared losing me.
Then prosecutors played her recording.
Once Daniel marries me, Noah gets sent away.
The jury heard her discuss my death.
They saw the sedative found in my blood.
They examined the forged will and false guardianship documents.
Eric’s trial included his confession at the port.
He claimed the statements were made under pressure.
The recording was clear.
He admitted sabotaging Emily’s car and poisoning Dad.
Caroline testified against him.
So did Lydia.
So did Helen Cross and Dr. Ross.
Each blamed someone else.
Together, they confirmed the same plan.
During my testimony, Eric’s attorney asked whether I had always been jealous of my brother.
“No.”
“Did your father favor you?”
“He trusted me because I didn’t steal from him.”
Eric shouted from the defense table.
“You took everything!”
The judge ordered him to remain silent.
I looked at my brother.
“Dad gave you opportunities. Emily treated you like family. Noah loved you. You threw all of that away because you wanted what belonged to someone else.”
For the first time, Eric had no answer.
Then prosecutors presented one final piece of evidence.
The bloodstained shirt found in Eric’s shop did not contain only Dad’s blood.
A second blood type was present.
It belonged to Vanessa.
The stain came from the night Dad died.
Vanessa had been inside his house.
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She had not merely learned about his murder later.
She had helped Eric hold him down while Caroline administered the drug.
