Chapter 12 Chapter 12
She closed the box with a decisive snap. Enough dwelling on the past. A DNA test would settle this once and for all, providing scientific proof that she had no connection to the wealthy Lawson family. Then perhaps these strange coincidences would stop haunting her, and she could focus entirely on her future.
Across town, Tony paced his apartment, unable to sleep despite his exhaustion. He'd made a critical error mentioning Iris to his parents. He knew how they operated. Right now, they'd be digging into her background, looking for any possible connection to the Lawsons. If they found even a hint of possibility, they would exploit it ruthlessly.
He needed to warn Iris, but how? She already guarded her privacy fiercely. Telling her that his parents might be investigating her would only drive her further away, make her distrust him completely. And he couldn't tell her why without revealing that he'd been researching her past himself, a betrayal she would never forgive.
"Damn it," he muttered, running his hands through his hair. He'd have to find a way to protect her without her knowledge, to run interference between Iris and his parents without either side realising what he was doing. It was an impossible position.
His phone chimed with a text from his mother: "Don't be late for lunch tomorrow. Eleanor is expecting you at noon sharp."
Tony threw his phone onto the couch in frustration. Eleanor Preston was the least of his concerns right now, yet he couldn't escape the lunch without raising his parents' suspicions further. He was trapped in a web of his own making.
The next morning dawned grey and cold, a light snow beginning to dust the campus as students hurried between buildings. Iris arrived at Café Meridian at 5:30 AM, yawning as she tied her apron and began the opening procedures she knew by heart. The early shift was punishing, but it paid slightly better and left her afternoons free for classes and design work.
By 7:30, the café was bustling with sleepy students and professors grabbing their morning coffee before classes. Iris moved with practised efficiency behind the counter, her hands preparing drinks while her mind worked through colour combinations for her online store branding.
"Grande caramel macchiato with an extra shot," called a familiar voice from the pickup counter.
Iris glanced up to see Tony, looking unusually dishevelled in jeans and a wrinkled button-down, dark circles under his eyes suggesting he'd slept as poorly as she had.
"Hey," he said, offering a tired smile. "Wasn't sure you’d be here yet.”
“Yup, my classes are on in the afternoon, and I decided that I might do a DNA test to put the jokes around my birth to rest.” Iris said, “I think it's time for my birth parents to know I’m safe and well if they’d like to meet me after all this time.”
Tony's heart skipped a beat, his mind racing at Iris's casual revelation. She was going to take a DNA test, the very thing that could confirm or deny his suspicions, the very thing his parents would exploit if they discovered it.
"DNA test?" he managed to keep his voice casual despite the alarm bells ringing in his head. "That's... a big step."
Iris shrugged as she steamed milk for another customer's order, seemingly unaware of the panic she'd just ignited in Tony. "Not really. Just a swab in a tube. It's time to put these ridiculous birthday coincidence jokes to rest."
Tony leaned closer over the counter, lowering his voice. "Have you thought this through? What if you find relatives who... complicate things?"
"Then I'll deal with it," Iris replied, her tone matter-of-fact as she handed off a completed drink to another customer. "But the chances are slim. I was probably just some teenager's mistake, like the police thought."
Tony nodded, trying to organise his thoughts. If Iris took a DNA test and were indeed Roxanne Lawson, the results would eventually reach the Lawson family through the database-matching system. His parents would be cut out entirely, which was good, but Iris would be thrown into a media firestorm she wasn't prepared for.
"When are you planning to do this?" he asked, trying to sound merely curious.
"I ordered the kit this morning. Should arrive in a few days." Iris glanced at the growing line behind Tony. "I should get back to work. Enjoy your coffee."
Tony stepped aside, his mind whirling with implications. He had days, at most, to figure out how to protect Iris from whatever storm might be coming, whether from his parents or from the truth itself.
Across town, Helga Kennedy was already awake and impeccably dressed, sipping her morning tea while reviewing the dossier on Iris Maxwell that her private investigator had compiled overnight. The girl's background was remarkably clean: a straight-A student, a scholarship recipient, and a competition winner. Nothing to suggest she was anything other than the hardworking design student she appeared to be.
Except for that birthdate. And the location where she was found. And the timing that aligned too perfectly with the Lawson kidnapping.
"Interesting girl," Julius commented, glancing at the file over his wife's shoulder as he adjusted his tie. "Talented too, based on these design samples."
"Talent isn't the issue," Helga replied crisply. "The question is whether she poses an opportunity or a threat."
Julius's phone chimed with an incoming call. He checked the screen and frowned. "It's Richard Lawson."
Helga's perfectly sculpted eyebrows rose. "At this hour? That's... unusual."
Julius answered the call, his voice immediately shifting into its business-pleasant tone. "Richard, good morning. What can I do for you?"
“I’ve been doing background checks on the candidates of my design competition, and it pinged that you, too, have been looking into a Miss Iris Rose Maxwell. Just wondered why?”
“My son Antony had run the check, actually, for an assignment; he seems quite invested in her. She’s been helping him with a business assignment, and he's been helping set up a business plan.”