Margaret filed it as part of the divorce.
I filed for dissolution of marriage in the Circuit Court of Lake County on a Tuesday morning. On the same day, Margaret filed a petition asking the court to declare that the forfeiture clause in the Voss Marital Trust had been triggered, and to confirm me as sole beneficiary and successor trustee.
In the same filing, she asked the court to order genetic testing of Theo and Lucy Hayes. Martin’s lawyer had already sent Clara a demand letter asserting that Martin’s name had been placed on both birth certificates under false pretenses, which made paternity directly relevant to the case. Under the Illinois Parentage Act, the court could order genetic testing of the children and of any man who might be the biological father.
Clara fought it. Her lawyer, a man from a downtown firm who’d clearly been paid well, argued that Martin had “voluntarily acknowledged paternity” by signing both birth certificates, and that it was too late to challenge.
The judge, a careful woman named Judge Helen Strasser, listened to forty minutes of argument. Then she read Dr. Ellison’s sworn declaration, the medical records showing Martin’s permanent infertility going back five years, and Howard Lindqvist’s report on the Lakeshore money.
“Counsel,” she said to Clara’s lawyer, “your client’s position is that a man who is medically incapable of fathering children should be presumed the father of two children because he signed a form at the hospital without knowing his own medical history. Meanwhile, the man in this photograph is pushing a stroller with a hospital bracelet that names him as the father.” She took off her glasses. “I’m ordering genetic testing. All three adults. Both children. The lab is to report directly to the court.”
Adrian Voss tried not to show up for his test. He hired his own lawyer and filed a motion arguing that he wasn’t a party to our divorce.
Judge Strasser issued an order compelling him to appear under the Parentage Act, with a warning that refusal would let the court draw an adverse inference. That meant she could assume the result would have been exactly what everyone suspected.
He showed up at the lab on a Friday morning in sunglasses, and wouldn’t look at anyone.
The results came back twelve days later.
The probability that Martin Voss was the biological father of Theo Hayes was zero percent, and the same for Lucy Hayes.
The probability that Adrian Voss was the father of Theo was 99.998 percent, and of Lucy, 99.997 percent.
Specialty: Emotional Turning Points
Rachel Monroe writes character-driven stories about betrayal, second chances, and unexpected resilience. Her work highlights the emotional side of family conflict — the silences, the misunderstandings, and the moments when someone quietly decides they’ve had enough.