"You can't prove that," Melanie said.

"Actually, I can," Catherine replied. "Tell them what else you have, Dr. Jordan."

​​

"These are a series of emails I exchanged with Lawson," Carl said. "They prove that he asked me to forge the report."

Melanie crossed the room and snatched the papers from his hands, "Give those to me. I want to see what you're talking about."

"Oh, let it go, Melanie," Lawson groaned. "She knows everything."

"Shut up," Melanie hissed at her husband. "It's not over yet."

Her eyes scanned the paper, and his face paled. She lowered the papers and shot an accusatory glance at her husband. "How could you be so careless, Lawson?" she asked.

"What did she offer you, Carl?" Lawson asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"She knows a lot about me," Carl said, looking miserable. "Things done by night have a way of coming to light during the day."

"Not just by night," Catherine scoffed.

"What's going on?" Maria asked. "What's on those papers?"

"Dr. Jordan, would you be so kind as to read them?" Catherine asked.

Looking like he'd rather be anywhere else in the world, Carl held out his hand for the emails. Melanie shot him a vicious look, and he shrugged back at her. Finally, she thrust the papers at him.

"From Lawson," Carl said. "Carl, I need your help with a sensitive family matter. My brother-in-law's widow and her son are the only things standing in my way. I need you to forge a DNA test showing that the son is a bastard. I'll have a messenger send over his hair—not that it's necessary."

"The next email is my reply," Carl said. He read, "Dear Lawson, Always happy to help out an old school friend. But this is a pretty big favor, and it's going to involve certain risks. If I'm going to risk my medical integrity, it has to be worth it."

Carl sighed and said, "Lawson replied: Fair enough. I'll give you a million upfront now, and I'll double that when you deliver the report. Then I replied and said: Okay. Good for you. What are you going to do once the son is out of the way? Didn't he have a daughter too? I know you, Lawson, and I know you don't have three million to spare. I'm not going to do this unless I'm confident you can pay."

"Satisfied?" Carl asked Catherine.

"Keep going," Catherine said. "I remember there being more."

"So then Lawson said: I'm not worried about the girl," Carl read. "I think I can handle her. Besides, I need to keep one of his kids around—I think he's hidden some property in their names somewhere. Besides, once I have what I want, I can marry her off—she'll be someone else's problem soon enough."

"Thank you, Dr. Jordan," Catherine said. She looked at her aunt and uncle, "Was that proof enough for you?"

"You asshole," Maria said, her voice shaking with anger. "I wanted to believe it was all a mistake, but this level of planning it's—it's—it's the most cold-blooded thing I've ever seen. I can't believe this. Don't you remember how kind James was to you? He helped you buy your house, he gave you a job, he treated you as his brother—and this is how you repay him?"

"Hang on a minute," Melanie said. "How do we know those emails are authentic? Lawson's account could have been hacked. And besides, there are all kinds of manipulation people can do with photos these days. No, I don't think those emails would hold up in a court of law."

Catherine thought for a moment, "Well, I'm sure a judge would be interested in knowing where Carl's three million dollars come from. We'll just get the wire transfer information."

Melanie shot a furious look at her husband, "Lawson, you didn't—"

"Actually, the payments were in cash," Carl said. "And I didn't deposit them in my account—they went to umm, some female friends of mine."

"Unbelievable," Catherine muttered. "But fine, there are other ways to find out. If I have to, I'll dig up my father's body and rerun the DNA test."

"You wouldn't," Lawson said, horrified.

"You'd drag your poor father's bones out of the ground?" Melanie asked. "How could you? How could you insult his memory like that?"

"You want to talk about insulting his memory," Catherine shot back. "You drove his wife and his child out of their home, sending them into poverty. You accused her of being unfaithful to him and called his only son a bastard, and then you used his money to forge a DNA test. You turned his daughter into a spoiled brat and then sold her off to a man you knew nothing about. Now you live in his home and sleep in his bed as if it's all yours while you slowly ruin his company to fuel your lavish, tacky lifestyle. I think that's all just slightly insulting, don't you?"

Lawson seemed to collapse in the chair—his face fell, and he swallowed hard. He looked like a man defeated—his jowls sagged, and his eyes dimmed. Catherine watched him, wondering if he felt any guilt at all about what he'd done. Suddenly, he leaned forward.

"Does Sean know?" he asked, a calculating expression in his eyes.

"This doesn't involve him," Catherine answered.

"Oh, but it does," Lawson said. "I doubt he wants you to run a company which he just made a billion dollars investment in."

"Oh, and you think he wants you to run it instead?" she shot back.

"Just answer the question," Lawson said.

"She won't," Melanie said, sneering nastily at Catherine. "Sean doesn't know, and she doesn't want to admit it. Probably because he wouldn't approve."

"Maybe not dear," Lawson said between clenched teeth. "But I don't think he'd be happy to hear this little story our niece is telling. She doesn't paint a very nice picture of us."

Catherine chewed her lip, wondering what Sean would think of it all. Would he side with her? Would he be angry at her for getting into the situation? Would he even care at all? She shook her head and looked at her uncle.

"I have nothing left to say," she said. "The truth is in the open now. Do you have anything to add? Anything at all?"

"I—" Lawson began. He snapped his mouth shut and looked at his wife. Melanie shook her head, warningly. "No, there's nothing I want to say."

"Really?" Catherine asked. "Are you sure you don't want to confess? Admit that you seized my father's property, that you forged the DNA report, that you did everything in your power to control and manipulate me?"

"Fine," Lawson said. "The report was faked, okay?"

"Lawson," Melanie wailed. "Shh."

Lawson turned to his wife, a pleading expression in his beady eyes, "She has the evidence. There's no point in lying about that. I'm not confessing to anything else, but she knows the report is faked."

She turned to Samuel, "You heard him. You're not a bastard—you're my brother. I'm sorry I ever believed otherwise."

Samuel seemed to be losing his battle against crying. His eyes were rimmed red, and he blinked, and a few tears trickled down his cheeks. Embarrassed, he stood and gave her a quick hug. He tried to pull away, but she held his lanky body close—he was taller than her, but it still felt like hugging the same little brother from before.

She finally released him and added, "As my brother, you're not going to live in that awful place anymore. You're going to come home and go back to your old school with your old friends. You too, Maria."

She turned to Melanie and Lawson, "I want you out today."

"Today?" Lawson asked. "That's impossible—I—we—"

Catherine waved her hand to stop him, "You've overstayed your welcome by about four years. I want you out."