Chapter 6 - WHAT WAS IN MEGAN’S GLASS Police located Dr. Crane at Harbor Ridge.
He denied taking unauthorized samples. He claimed Jessica requested allergy testing because Megan developed a rash after eating seafood.
Megan had eaten no seafood.
Jessica had removed the shrimp before either child touched it.
The cooler contained swabs from Olivia’s and Megan’s glasses, used napkins, strands of hair, and one stained section cut from Megan’s yellow dress.
Crane intended to establish genetic relationships and test for medication exposure.
Toxicology found a mild sedative in Megan’s lemonade.
Emily felt the room tilt.
Jessica had splashed broth across Megan’s dress after the child became drowsy. The stain helped disguise the drink already soaked into the fabric when Megan spilled part of it.
“Who put it in her glass?” Emily demanded.
Crane requested an attorney.
Restaurant footage answered.
Michael approached the children’s table before Emily arrived. He opened a small packet and emptied powder into Megan’s lemonade.
He stirred it with a straw.
His face showed no panic.
No hesitation.
The sedative was intended to make Megan sleepy and difficult. Harbor Ridge’s report could then describe her as neglected, poorly regulated, or improperly medicated.
Michael had drugged his four-year-old daughter to strengthen a custody case against her mother.
Emily watched the recording once.
She refused to watch it again.
Michael appeared at the police station with an attorney and offered a statement.
He claimed Jessica gave him the packet and said it contained a motion-sickness medicine Megan had safely taken before.
“Did you ask Emily?” the investigator said.
“No.”
“Did you check the label?”
“There wasn’t one.”
“Did you give an unlabeled powder to a child?”
Michael covered his face.
“Yes.”
He insisted he did not know about the airline tickets.
His signature appeared on the booking.
He claimed Jessica placed documents before him during an argument and demanded that he sign if he wanted to save the family company.
Emily spoke to him through a recorded conference call.
“You always blame the paper, the pressure, or your mother.”
“I know how it sounds.”
“It sounds like you repeatedly made the choice that benefited you.”
Michael began crying.
“I love the girls.”
“You took Olivia’s money, drugged Megan, and watched your mother humiliate them.”
“I was going to fix everything after the restaurant deal closed.”
“You were planning to take one child and abandon the other.”
“I would never abandon Megan.”
“Then why wasn’t she on the ticket?”
He did not know.
Or claimed he did not.
Walter provided another possibility.
Jessica had never accepted Megan as a Parker heir. After Megan’s birth, she repeatedly questioned whether Michael was the biological father because the child resembled Emily’s side of the family.
Michael denied believing her.
Yet Dr. Crane’s genetic samples suggested someone wanted proof.
The results were already inside Harbor Ridge’s system.
Olivia was Michael’s biological daughter.
Megan’s test was incomplete because the sample had been deliberately contaminated.
A second male DNA profile appeared in the stain from her dress.
Michael stared at the report.
“That isn’t possible.”
Emily looked at the photograph of Jessica cutting away part of the fabric.
“This is what your mother wanted you to believe.”
Jessica had created another conflict.
If Michael doubted Megan’s paternity, he might abandon her without fighting for custody. Jessica needed only Olivia, whose business shares could be controlled.
Then Emily received a message from Jessica.
The test is real. Ask Walter what happened while Michael was overseas.
Walter’s face changed when Emily showed him.
He recognized the second DNA profile.
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It belonged to a member of the Parker family.
👉 Jessica had contaminated Megan’s sample with family DNA to make Michael question his own child.
