The Flower That Grew from Ashes novel Chapter 61

Annelise barely slept a wink that night.

The darkness outside her window faded to pale gray, and then to the first light of dawn.

Instead of drowning in her usual anger and despair, she felt different.

She was surprisingly calm.

Sitting at her desk, she opened the hardcover notebook and, bathed in the morning's first rays, began to inventory every single card she held in her hand.

The first card was the authoritative medical report issued by Vivian's hospital.

It acted like a razor-sharp scalpel, clearly proving that her fallopian tubes had been intentionally and professionally tied.

The second card was the testimony from Josie Platt, the nurse far out in Greendale County.

As a firsthand witness to that surgery four years ago, her statement pointed directly to Clarissa as an accomplice, if not the mastermind, of the entire conspiracy.

The third card consisted of the photos Harriet had risked taking of Manuel, along with the unintentional leaks from the nanny, Zoey.

That face, looking exactly like Hackett's, was the most visceral proof available—easily tearing apart the absurd lie of Elias having a posthumous child.

The fourth card was the screenshot Annelise had snapped from Hackett's lock screen.

"Hackett, Manuel called me Dad today." Accompanied by a white Gardenia and a red heart, it was the most direct, ironclad proof of their affair.

The fifth card was the photo she had taken of the Infant Insurance Policy hidden in the filing cabinet of Hackett's study.

Policyholder: Hackett Lehman. Beneficiary: Clarissa Sherwood. It was there in black and white, utterly indisputable.

The sixth card lay in the private chapel: Lizzie's diary and Elias's letters.

And that was a legally binding paternity test report.

Only DNA could provide the ultimate, indisputable scientific verdict.

Only that report could permanently nail Hackett and Clarissa to the cross of moral and legal disgrace, ensuring they could never turn the tables.

But how could she get DNA samples from Hackett and Manuel without alerting anyone?

Annelise's gaze landed on the towering sycamore tree outside her window as her mind raced.

She had it.

A bold plan rapidly took shape in her mind.

Manuel was living at the estate right now. His toothbrush, his used bibs, the hair he dropped on the carpet, even his fingernail clippings could all serve as DNA samples.