CHAPTER 20 — THE DNA ENVELOPE
A sealed DNA report arrived for Gabriel.
It compared samples from Khloe, Marcus, Hope, and the unidentified woman in the photographs.
The woman’s sample had been collected from a glass recovered in Peter Voss’s apartment.
Gabriel opened the envelope alone.
Then he called Khloe.
“Hope is biologically yours and Marcus’s.”
Khloe exhaled in relief.
Marcus closed his eyes.
But Gabriel did not smile.
“What else?” Khloe asked.
“The unknown woman shares half of your DNA.”
Khloe stared at him.
“My sister?”
“Possibly.”
“I don’t have a sister.”
Gabriel looked toward the baby bracelet from the vault.
“The records suggest Celeste gave birth to a child four years before you were born.”
Khloe shook her head.
“My mother would have told me.”
“Unless she was forced to give the child away.”
Marcus took the report.
“There’s something wrong.”
He pointed to another line.
The unknown woman also shared genetic markers with the Thorne family.
“She is related to Khloe and to me,” Marcus said.
Gabriel’s expression darkened.
That combination could mean only one thing.
Alexander Thorne and Celeste Cole had produced a child together.
The hidden first heir was Khloe’s half-sister.
And Marcus’s half-sister.
Khloe looked at Marcus.
Their families had buried an affair, a child, and an entire medical program.
“Did Evelyn know?”
Gabriel answered immediately.
“She knew everything.”
At that moment, the secure NICU alarm activated.
The lights inside Hope’s room went out.
Backup power should have started instantly.
May you like
It did not.
Through the darkened glass, Khloe saw a shadow approaching the incubator.
