She bit the inside of her lip for a moment, considering her options. She couldn’t leave without a vehicle, and she didn’t want to wait up here, so she reluctantly followed him.
She didn’t have to wonder where he was; she heard the raised voices before she was even halfway down the stairs.
‘What on earth is going on in there?’ Vera asked, coming along the hallway as Kenzie reached the bottom of the stairs.
Kenzie didn’t bother trying to explain—no doubt she’d find out soon enough—but she wouldn’t have her daughter overhearing any of it. ‘Where’s Poppy?’ she asked, not even caring that it came out as a demand.
‘She’s outside with the boys. Floss dropped them off a few minutes ago. What’s all this about?’
Kenzie shook her head, irritably. Was Vera involved? She felt betrayed by everyone at this point. She continued to the office where all the commotion was coming from.
‘What the hell gave you the right to go ahead and do something like this?’ Ewan demanded. The two men stood either side of the wide desk, their faces angry masks.
‘Common sense. Do you honestly think I’m going to just takeherword that the kid’s yours?’
‘It’s none of your damn business,’ Ewan snarled.
‘Are you that stupid?’ Callum demanded. ‘She conveniently bumps into you out of the blue. Breaks up your pending marriage, then tells you that you fathered her kid. And you blindly accept it?’
‘It’s got nothing to do with you.’
‘It’s got everything to do with me if it threatens Laire-Mor.’
‘It won’t, so back the hell off.’
‘You’re damn right it won’t. I just proved the kid isn’t yours. You’re welcome.’
‘You didwhat?’ Vera demanded, moving past Kenzie and into the room.
‘It’s all here in this report,’ he said triumphantly, waving the report that had been on his desk in the air, ignoring the shocked look on his wife’s face. ‘He’s not the father.’
‘I don’t understand,’ Vera said, turning her bewildered glance onto Ewan then Kenzie.
‘She lied,’ Callum said drolly.
‘I didnotlie,’ Kenzie said, her anger reigniting at his smug look.
‘There must be some kind of mistake,’ Vera stammered.
‘The only mistake here is that she thought she could pull the wool over everyone’s eyes to get hold of our money.’
‘I don’t want your money,’ Kenzie snapped. ‘And I also didn’t give anyone permission to take a DNA sample from my daughter.’ She glared at the three people before her. ‘Poppy and I will be leaving today.’
‘Wait,’ Vera said, sending Kenzie a pleading look. ‘I had no idea about this.’
‘Apparently no one did,’ she said sarcastically, before her tone hardened once more, ‘and yet somehow that company got hold of samples from both Ewan and Poppy. I trusted you to be alone with my child, and you betrayed that trust.’
‘I swear to you, I didn’t,’ Vera said, shaking her head adamantly. ‘I wouldnever.’
The distress on the older woman’s face made Kenzie’s heart squeeze, but she quickly steeled herself against it. ‘Someone did.’ Vera instantly turned to face her husband. ‘What did you do?’
‘I told you I was protecting our interests, and luckily I did,’ he said. ‘She clearly managed to con you two into believing her lies.’
‘I didn’t give you a sample of anything,’ Ewan said, breaking into the conversation with a quiet coldness.
For a moment, annoyance crossed the old man’s face before he gave an impatient wave of his hand. ‘DNA is incredibly easy to find. I didn’t need your involvement. And it doesn’t matter because you now have the truth, thanks to me.’
Kenzie shook her head silently. ‘If you can find someone to run Poppy and me into town, I’ll handle the rest from there,’ she said stiffly, walking from the office with as much dignity as she could muster.
