Chapter 7 - The Lab Results
Three agonizing days passed in high suspense.
Clara stayed in the quiet guest cottage on the estate grounds. She refused luxury clothes and expensive jewelry, preferring her quiet routine. She spent every afternoon sitting with Eleanor in the rose garden, listening to stories about her mother's earliest years before the forced separation. For the first time in her life, the gaping hole in Clara's identity began to heal with love.
On Thursday evening, the heavy rain hammered against the conservatory windows. Damian arrived soaked from the city, carrying a sealed yellow envelope stamped with the insignia of Manhattan Genetics Institute.
Eleanor gripped Clara’s hand tightly as Damian sat across from them. The tension in the room was suffocating.
""The test was run three times against Mother's profile and my own,"" Damian said, breaking the seal with a sharp slide of his silver pocketknife. He pulled out the documents, scanned the concluding paragraph, and looked up.
His face held an emotion Clara had never seen before: absolute, triumphant reverence.
""99.98% probability of direct maternal granddaughter lineage,"" Damian read aloud. ""You are Sarah's child, Clara. You are Eleanor's granddaughter. Legally, biologically, and indisputably.""
Eleanor broke into joyful tears, pulling Clara into an embrace that banished decades of ghosts. ""My baby... my granddaughter...""
Damian set the papers down, but his expression turned grim. ""Now comes the hard part. The board of directors is meeting tomorrow morning at headquarters to discuss Julian’s motion to remove me as CEO due to 'erratic leadership and familial breach.' Julian is plotting a hostile takeover backed by the Sterling family.""
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Clara looked at her uncle. ""What do they want?""
""They want to take everything my mother built,"" Damian said quietly. ""Unless we show them tomorrow that this family doesn't break.""
