Shane exhaled. “Nathan Longstreet claims that his father was intentionally misled into believing that Matt was his grandson, and that the terms of his will were predicated on a falsehood and therefore not valid. Faith can sign the waiver, which in effect says that Matt is not a direct blood descendent of Ethan Longstreet, and thus has no legal claim on any of his holdings.”
Some of the color drained from Faith’s face. Did Nathan really believe that she would be capable of doing such a thing? That she would deliberately deceive an old man into thinking he had a grandson simply to get her hands on some of his money? The very thought that anyone could think that of her made her feel slightly ill.
“That’s bullshit,” Kieran said firmly, rallying on her behalf. “Faith would never lie about something like that.”
Shane nodded as if he agreed. “If Faith refuses to sign the waiver, then Nathan demands proof of her claim before releasing the holds he’s placed on Ethan’s personal assets.”
“Proof?”
Shane’s lips thinned. “Matt will be required to undergo a paternity test to prove that Nathan is the father.”
“So?” Kieran asked. “Mick can do that.” But Shane was shaking his head.
“It’s more complicated than that, Kier. Nathan’s motion specifically states that the test must be performed by a certified, non-biased agent, and offers three acceptable choices, all located in Georgia.”
Faith, who had been quiet up to this point, cleared her throat. “Then he’s already won,” she said, her voice too calm. “He must know I can’t afford to travel back to Georgia to have the tests done.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Kieran said. “We’ll get you there if that’s where you need to be.”
Faith was about to argue, but Shane spoke again. “You might not want to.”
“Why not?” Kieran demanded. “It’s about time the bastard did right by his son.”
“Therein lies the problem. If Faith proves that Matt is indeed Nathan’s son, then he might be able to claim some parental rights himself. Visitation, custody, - ”
“NO!” Faith said vehemently, shooting to her feet. “Give me the waiver. I’ll sign it right now.”
“But Faith - ”
“No!” she repeated, searching frantically for a pen. “One million dollars is nothing compared to losing my son. We’ve made it just fine without him or his money. He can keep it, and shove it right up his arrogant - ”
“Mom.”
Faith looked up in horror to discover Matt sitting at the base of the stairs.
“Matt! How long have you been sitting there?”
“Long enough.” He stood, looking much older than he had only a few hours ago. “Don’t sign anything yet, Mom.”
“Why not? I have no intention of putting you through that, Matt. No amount of money in the world is worth that.”
“I don’t care about the money, Mom,” Matt said carefully. “I’ve thought about it and... I want to meet him.”
“What?!” Blood turned to ice in her veins at the very thought. She would not lose her boy.
“I want to meet him,” Matt repeated evenly, watching her with guarded eyes. “I want to see him for myself.”
“Absolutely not. I forbid it.”
He smiled, and Faith wondered exactly when her son had acquired Kieran’s smirk. “He can’t hurt me, Mom. And he could never take me away from you.” He looked at Shane. “He couldn’t, could he?”
Shane looked thoughtful. “By law, he could claim certain rights as your biological father. As a lawyer, he would know this.”
“But we live in Pennsylvania now.”
“True, but he could petition for joint custody or at the very least, regular visitation.” Shane hesitated. “There are ways, of course, to delay things, drag them out over the course of several years until you turn eighteen and it becomes a non-issue.”
“Absolutely not,” Faith said again adamantly.
“But... to do so would also mean that Nathan has been shirking his responsibilities for a long time. I imagine the interest alone on fourteen years’ worth of child support is staggering. It might make him a little reluctant to pursue something too aggressively. He’s probably counting on the fact that Faith wouldn’t know that, though.”
“You can do that?”
Shane shrugged modestly. “There is some precedent for it.”
Faith was shaking her head. “No. I don’t want anything from him. Give me the paper.”
“Mom, please.” Matt’s voice was so much more composed than hers. “I won’t do the blood test if you don’t want me to. And I’m okay with you signing the paper. All I’m asking is that you wait a couple of days.”
“Why? What’s going to change in a few days?”
Matt shifted his feet. “I want to meet him first.”
All of the fight drained out of Faith; she felt numb. “Why, Matt?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t know. I just know it’s something I have to do. You can understand that, can’t you, Mom?”