Chapter 5 - THE FIRST PAYMENT
Vanessa responded from a private account.
She claimed Daniel knew.
That was the lie Hannah believed.
The email said:
Daniel received your message. Given the timing and his son’s needs, he does not want direct contact until paternity is established privately. I am handling this for the family.
Hannah felt humiliated.
Still, she agreed to meet Vanessa.
They met in a hotel café outside Columbus.
Vanessa arrived carrying a folder.
Inside:
a proposed confidentiality agreement,
a private DNA-testing form,
and a bank draft for $25,000.
Vanessa told Hannah the money was for Maya’s needs.
In exchange, Hannah would not contact Daniel directly for one year while “the family evaluated options.”
Hannah refused initially.
Then Vanessa changed tactics.
She said Daniel was considering seeking custody if Hannah disrupted Noah during a fragile period after Claire’s death.
She described Daniel’s wealth.
Lawyers.
Private investigators.
School records.
Then said:
“You’ve kept Maya from him for six years. A judge could see that as instability.”
The legal claim was mostly nonsense.
Hannah didn’t know that.
She was behind on rent.
Maya needed dental work.
Her car had died.
Twenty-five thousand dollars looked less like payment for silence and more like breathing room.
So Hannah signed.
She hated herself afterward.
But she signed.
The DNA test never happened.
Vanessa claimed Daniel changed his mind.
Then sent another $10,000 six months later with a new condition:
Move out of the county.
Hannah refused.
Vanessa threatened again.
That was when Hannah realized something was wrong.
If Daniel truly wanted distance, why wouldn’t an attorney contact her?
Why no paternity test?
Why only Vanessa?
Hannah tried calling Daniel’s office directly.
Her calls were redirected.
She mailed a certified letter.
It was returned unopened because Vanessa had listed Hannah’s name with reception as “unauthorized personal solicitation.”
Finally Hannah decided to confront Daniel herself.
She moved into the apartment behind Bellini’s because it was affordable and close to Hannah’s new restaurant job.
She had been there twelve days when Maya found Noah behind the dumpster.
May you like
Chance did what Hannah had failed to do for seven years.
Put the two children in the same alley.
