Chapter 7 - The Confession
The forensic lab smelled of ozone and stale coffee, a sterile environment that stripped away the noise of the world. Sabrina sat on the vinyl bench, her fingers drumming a restless rhythm against her thigh. Across the table, Dr. Aris, a woman with sharp eyes and even sharper glasses, held the sheet of paper up to the light.
"This isn't just a forgery, Sabrina," Dr. Aris said, her voice quiet but heavy with finality. "It’s a replica. Every curve, every hesitation, the slant of the 'R' in Rollins—it matches Maya’s personal samples exactly."
Sabrina let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, the tension in her shoulders finally unspooling into a cold, hard certainty. "So, it’s settled. Maya signed those documents. She’s the one who tried to steal the company from under us."
She stood up, the chair scraping loudly against the floor. "Thank you, Dr. Aris. This changes everything."
It was the belief she needed. With the handwriting analysis in hand, Sabrina felt like a soldier who had finally found the enemy’s flag. She was no longer a victim of circumstance; she was armed with the truth.
She drove straight to Maya’s apartment, expecting to find her hiding, perhaps barricaded in a bathroom or frantically shredding documents. But the moment Sabrina pushed the door open, the silence hit her like a physical blow.
The place was empty. Not just empty of people, but empty of life. There was no dust on the coffee table, no uneaten takeout containers, no lingering scent of perfume. The air was stagnant, as if the apartment had been sealed and preserved.
Sabrina walked through the rooms, her footsteps echoing in the hollow quiet. The bed was made, the clothes in the closet were hung with military precision. It was too clean. It felt staged.
Her phone buzzed in her pocket. Sabrina pulled it out, her heart skipping a beat. It was a text message from an unknown number.
*You think you know who I am?*
The message was followed immediately by a photo attachment. Sabrina’s breath hitched in her throat as she opened it. The image was grainy, taken from a distance, but the subject was unmistakable.
It was the baby—the child from the DNA test. The baby that Maya claimed was Justin's. But the baby wasn't in a crib or a stroller. He was being held in the arms of a woman who looked disturbingly like Kenneth’s mother.
The woman was smiling. It was a cold, predatory smile.
Sabrina’s hand trembled as she stared at the screen. Maya wasn't running away; she was being held hostage. And the grandmother, the woman who was supposed to be suffering from advanced dementia, was the one holding the leash.
Sabrina slammed her phone into her purse. She had to get to the nursing home. She had to warn them, or find a way to get that baby back before they used him as leverage to destroy her.
She drove faster than she should have, the asphalt blurring into a streak of grey. By the time she arrived at the facility, her hands were shaking, and her mind was racing through worst-case scenarios. The police had been compromised, her lawyer had been threatened, and now her brother was a traitor. Who could she trust?
She burst into the room assigned to Kenneth's mother, expecting to find a confused, frail old woman sitting in a wheelchair. Instead, the room was dimly lit, the blinds drawn against the afternoon sun. The old woman sat up straight in her bed, her eyes wide and alert, fixed on Sabrina with a clarity that was terrifying.
"You're late," the woman said. Her voice was raspy, but there was no slurring, no dementia in her tone. It was sharp, commanding.
"Mother," Sabrina gasped, stepping forward. "We have to talk about Maya. I have the proof—"
"Stop," the woman snapped. She held up a hand, her skin like parchment but her grip surprisingly strong. "Don't talk about that little slut. You think she's the mastermind? You think she has the hands to forge the signatures?"
Sabrina froze, the words hanging in the air. "What are you talking about?"
The woman’s lips curled into a smile that was devoid of warmth. "You really are as blind as your father, aren't you? I did it, Sabrina. I forged the documents."
Sabrina took a step back, the blood draining from her face. "You? But you... you don't even know how to hold a pen properly."
"I learned," the woman said, her voice dropping to a whisper that seemed to vibrate in the small room. "Your father had a weakness for young women. He wanted to keep the company for himself, to pass it to Kenneth, but he couldn't do it while you were alive. You were too smart. Too independent. He needed to break you."
The woman gestured to the window. "So, I did what any woman in his position would do. I took matters into my own hands. I forged the signatures. I manipulated the accounts. I even helped Kenneth switch those pills."
Sabrina felt the ground beneath her feet dissolve. The grandmother, the woman she had pitied, the woman she had visited with cookies and soft words, was the architect of her entire nightmare. "Why? Why did you do it?"
The woman looked at her with a strange, twisted affection. "Because he cheated on me. He had a mistress, he had a child he didn't claim, and he spent his life hiding it. I wanted to see him burn. And seeing you fall? That was just the cherry on top."
"I'm going to call the police," Sabrina whispered, reaching for her phone.
The woman lunged forward, her eyes blazing with a manic energy. "You can't call anyone. You're the one who tried to poison me, remember?"
Before Sabrina could react, the door to the room swung open, and Justin stood in the frame, his face pale and terrified. He looked from his mother to Sabrina, his eyes darting around the room as if looking for an escape route.
May you like
"Mother, stop it," Justin pleaded, stepping inside. "You're going to ruin everything."
The grandmother laughed, a dry, rattling sound that echoed off the walls. "Ruin everything? This is the payoff, Justin. I told you I would make them pay."
