The Hollow Chess King Held a Secret That Made Rachel's Forged DNA Test Crumble

The Call That Turned Everything Upside Down

The next morning, I thought we were safe. Dominic had Rachel arrested, and the police were building a case against her for forgery and fraud. But the peace didn't last. My phone rang at 7 a.m., and the voice on the other end made my blood run cold.

"Elena? This is Detective Marquez. We need you to come to the station. There's been a development."

I left Mila with a neighbor and drove to the station, my hands gripping the steering wheel so hard my knuckles turned white. When I walked in, Dominic was already there, his jaw set in a hard line. He handed me a folder.

"Rachel's lawyer just posted her bail," he said. "And he's claiming the DNA test was actually a match—that my son is not the only child I have."

I stared at him, my mind reeling. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, his voice low, "there's another woman. She's claiming she had my child two years ago. And she's demanding a paternity test."

I felt the floor drop out from under me. "That's impossible. You told me you never—"

"I didn't," he said firmly. "But someone is going to a lot of trouble to make it look like I did."

The detective stepped forward, a grim expression on his face. "Ms. Elena, we found a witness who saw Rachel meeting with a woman named Vanessa Cole at a café two weeks ago. We think Rachel hired her to pose as the mother of a child she's trying to pass off as Mr. Valiente's."

"Then prove it," I said, my voice shaking. "Prove that child isn't his."

"We can't," Marquez said. "The child's blood type matches Mr. Valiente's. And the DNA test Rachel submitted was notarized."

Dominic's eyes blazed. "That's because it was forged. Just like the first one."

"We need more evidence," Marquez said. "Something that ties Rachel to Vanessa. Something that proves the test was fabricated."

I thought of the chess king, still in my pocket. I had brought it with me, a talisman of sorts. I pulled it out and unscrewed the base again. Inside, there was a tiny rolled-up paper that I had never noticed before. It was a receipt from a private lab—the same lab Rachel had used for her "test." And on it, in Rachel's handwriting, was a note: "Make sure the result is 0%."

"This," I said, holding it up. "This is the proof."

Marquez took it, his eyes widening. "This is gold. But we need to know who at the lab processed it. Can you get us anything else?"

Dominic stepped forward. "I'll call my lawyer. We'll subpoena the lab's records."

But as we spoke, my phone buzzed. It was a text from an unknown number: "You think you've won? Watch your back, Elena. You have no idea what Rachel is capable of."

I looked up at Dominic, my heart pounding. "She's not done," I said. "She's coming for us."

He took my hand, his grip fierce. "Then we'll be ready."

But I couldn't shake the feeling that we were walking into a trap. Rachel had been planning this for years. And she wasn't going to let a little evidence stop her.