And the Rutherfords, predictably, lost their collective mind.
Because to that family, a questionable heir is not a private marital matter. It is a threat to the dynasty. Carson’s uncle Gerald, the family’s self-appointed guardian of the line, declared that the matter would be “settled definitively,” that the child’s paternity would be established against the full Rutherford genetic record — the DNA database Reginald had insisted the entire family bank years earlier, precisely so that no pretender could ever dilute the sacred bl*od.
They were going to run Iris against the whole Rutherford line to prove she didn’t belong.
They had no idea they were about to run Carson against it too.
Lauren sat me down when the family’s demand came through. “They’re insisting on comprehensive testing,” she said carefully. “Full family comparison. You have every right to refuse — Iris’s paternity isn’t in any legitimate doubt, and no court would force this. But Harper…” She looked at me. “If you consent to it. If you let them run the whole panel the way they’re demanding…”
