Page 172 of Ruthless Claim

Claire goes white. Her eyes flick between the pages like she’s not quite processing what she’s seeing. It’s then that her expression slips. It’s just for a second, but it’s open and unguarded. Shock, maybe. Or fear. Her mouth parts, her brow pulling together before she can smooth it back out.

“I don’t understand,” she says, but her voice is shaking now. “What is this?”

“This,” Valentina says, and her voice is pure ice, “is proof that you’re a liar.”

Claire’s eyes dart between us. Her face is still pale, and she’s still shaking, but I can see her mind racing, trying to figure out how to spin this. “T-there must be some mistake.” Her voice is unsteady. “The first test⁠—”

“Was fraudulent.” I finish, making sure she’s looking at me so she can see the extent of my anger. She flinches. “You fucked up, Claire. The first test came in too quickly. So we got another test done.” I pause and jerk my chin toward the papers. “And guess what? I’m not Finn’s father.”

“How did you get additional DNA?” Claire demands, her lips bloodless as she scans the papers. “I was under the impression that the clinic destroys the DNA samples.”

I smile cruelly at her. “Maybe next time you should teach Finn to throw away his own juice boxes,” I say lightly as Claire sharply inhales. “Straws carry a wealth of DNA.”

Claire glares at me, trying to seize this for her moral high ground. “You stole my child’s DNA?”

“I stole nothing,” I say coldly. “It was garbage and I took it with me. It’s a good thing I did since you were trying to stick me with a child who isn’t even mine.”

“That’s impossible.”

“The science doesn’t lie, Claire.” Valentina’s voice interrupts hers, and I recognize her throwing my words back at the woman. “Isn’t that what was said? That DNA is definitive? Well, it is. And it says you’ve been running a con.”

The trembling stops. The pale, overwhelmed, cornered-woman expression just—melts away. Her eyes go sharp and still and her mouth settles into a line that has no softness in it. She looks…harder. More calculating and cold. The expression I’ve seen before but was quickly hidden.

There’s no hiding it now.

But how quickly it changes throws me.

I knew she was performing, but knowing it and seeing the performance end are two different things. For a moment, I feel the ground shift slightly under me.

“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” she snaps, but there’s no conviction in it. There’s also no fear either.

“Don’t I?” Valentina leans forward and her eyes are blazing.

It looks like she’s physically restraining herself from coming across the table, and I place a warning hand on her leg. “You show up out of nowhere with a convenient sob story. You claim Cillian abandoned you and your son. You manipulate him with guilt and bring up money every single chance you get. You coach Finn to ask about living with us, about how rich Cillian is.” Her voice is shaking now with anger. “You fabricated DNA results to make it all seem real.”

“I didn’t fabricate anything—” Claire’s own voice sharpens, but I interrupt her.

“Then explain the second test.” I gesture to the paper and pointing to the 0%. “Explain how the first one says I’m Finn’s father and the second says I’m not. Explain how you have no paper trail before three years ago. Explain how Finn has no verifiable birth records.”

Claire’s hands clench on the table. “You had me investigated?” Her voice raises an octave, like she can’t believe I would do such a thing.

“Of course I did.” Does she think I’m an idiot? “Once I stopped being blinded by guilt and actually looked at the situation clearly.”

Valentina releases the rest of the fury she’s been holding back for weeks. “You tried to destroy my marriage,” she snarls. “You used an innocent child as a prop in your scheme. You manipulated my husband’s guilt and his decency to tear us apart. And for what? Money? Was someone paying you to do this?”

“I don’t have to listen to this,” Claire snaps, starting to stand.

“Sit. Down.” There’s enough menace in my voice that Claire freezes. “You’re not leaving until you tell us who hired you.”

Finn looks up at that moment, his small face uncertain as he scans the table. Claire turns to him immediately and gives him a smile that is meant to look reassuring but looks more like a wince. Finn seems to believe whatever he sees in her gaze before he looks back down at his screen and he’s not paying attention to us anymore.

Claire slowly sits back down, her expression shifting from defensive to something that looks almost like fear. Good. She should be afraid.

“Who paid you to do this?” Valentina demands. “Who gave you information about Cillian’s time in Belfast? Who arranged for the fake test?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about⁠—”

“Stop lying!” Valentino’s voice rises and I see heads turn at two nearby tables. But Valentina doesn’t care as she doesn’t seem to register their attention.