Madison touched the closed folder.
“The truth would have been ambitious.”
She opened it.
Nathaniel saw the laboratory report.
At first he looked confused.
Then he read the conclusion.
His lips parted.
He read it again.
“That’s fake.”
“Maybe.”
“It has to be.”
“Then you should be eager for independent verification.”
Nathaniel picked up the report with both hands.
His eyes moved rapidly over the page.
“She told me—”
“I know what she told you.”
“No.” His voice cracked.
“She showed me dates.
She showed me medical records.”
“And you handed her nearly five million dollars.”
“The transfer hasn’t cleared.”
“Not anymore.”
Nathaniel stared at her.
“What did you do?”
“The audit chair flagged it while we were talking.”
Nathaniel reached for his phone.
Before he could dial, it rang.
Veronica.
Her name flashed across the screen.
Nathaniel and Madison looked at it together.
“Answer,” Madison said.
He hesitated.
“Answer her.”
Nathaniel accepted the call and put it on speaker.
Veronica spoke immediately.
“What happened to the transfer?”
Nathaniel closed his eyes.
Madison said nothing.
“Nathaniel?” Veronica pressed.
“You promised me.”
He opened his eyes and looked at the lab report.
“Whose child is it?”
Silence.
Not confusion.
Not outrage.
Silence.
Madison saw Nathaniel understand the answer before Veronica gave one.
“What are you talking about?” Veronica finally said.
“The test.”
Another pause.
Then Veronica’s voice changed.
The sweetness disappeared.
“Where are you?”
“Whose child is it?”
“You need to calm down.”
Nathaniel laughed once, a broken sound.
