Ryan was waiting outside Claire's apartment when she arrived home.
He stood beside the front entrance with his hands in his coat pockets, shoulders rigid against the wind. His car was parked illegally at the curb with the hazard lights blinking.
Claire stopped ten feet away.
"No."
Ryan's mouth tightened.
"We need to talk."
"You need to leave."
"Claire."
"If you want to communicate about Lily, do it through your lawyer."
He stepped closer.
"I don't need permission to speak to you."
"No, but you need permission to come into my building."
"I didn't."
"You were waiting at the door."
"Because you wouldn't answer."
Claire pulled out her phone.
"If you don't leave, I'll call the police."
His expression shifted.
A year earlier the threat would have felt impossible. She used to organize her behavior around avoiding his temper, though he had never struck her. Ryan's anger had worked differently. Doors closed harder. Conversations became interrogations. Silence became punishment.
Now she simply looked at him.
He understood she meant it.
"You had no right to see her without telling me."
"Megan arranged the visit through counsel and family services."
"I'm her father."
"Yes."
"And you are a stranger."
The words hit.
Claire absorbed them.
"To Lily, right now, I am."
Ryan appeared thrown by her agreement.
She continued.
"Which is why the visit was supervised. Which is why I didn't pick her up until she approached me. Which is why I'm asking for gradual contact instead of barging into her life."
"You don't belong in her life."
Claire studied him.
There was fear beneath the anger.
Not only fear of losing Lily.
Fear of losing control over the story.
"Why didn't you tell Megan I hadn't consented?"
He looked away.
"That's not what happened."
"She says you told her I signed."
"We had discussed what would happen to the embryos."
"No. We hadn't."
"You said you were done."
"Stop repeating that."
"You were."
"I said I could not do another transfer after losing a pregnancy."
"You knew I wanted children."
"I wanted children too."
Ryan laughed once without humor.
"You wanted grief. That's what you wanted. You wanted the entire house to stop because you were grieving."
Claire stared at him.
There had been a time when that accusation would have shattered her.
Now it clarified him.
"You resented me for being sad."
"I resented watching our life disappear."
"So you replaced me."
"That's not fair."
"You started an affair with my friend."
"It wasn't like that."
"It never is when the person explaining it is the one who cheated."
Ryan rubbed a hand across his face.
"Megan and I connected because she could still function."
Claire's voice remained quiet.
"I was recovering from a miscarriage."
"I know."
"No. I don't think you do."
A woman carrying groceries approached the entrance. Claire stepped aside to let her pass.
Ryan lowered his voice.
"This lawsuit isn't going to undo anything."
"I'm not trying to undo Lily."
"Then stop."
"Stop what?"
"Digging."
The word caught Claire's attention.
"Digging into what?"
Ryan's face closed.
Claire took one step toward him.
"Marissa Vale."
Nothing dramatic happened.
But she saw it.
A tightening around his eyes.
Recognition.
"You know her."
Ryan shook his head.
"Everyone at the clinic knew her."
"She accessed Megan's account before the transfer."
He said nothing.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
"When did Megan decide she was willing to carry an embryo?"
Ryan looked toward the street.
"After we separated."
"That's not what the records suggest."
His gaze snapped back.
Claire's heartbeat accelerated.
"How early did this start?"
"You're twisting things."
"How early?"
Ryan took his keys from his pocket.
"This conversation is over."
Claire watched him walk toward his car.
"Was Patricia planning this before you filed?"
He stopped.
For several seconds he stood with his back to her.
Then he turned.
"You think my mother controls everything."
"Doesn't she?"
"She tried to help."
Claire almost laughed.
"Help who?"
"Everyone."
"By stealing an embryo?"
Ryan's face went pale.
"I didn't steal anything."
"You used something that legally required my consent."
"It was mine too."
"Half of it was."
His jaw clenched.
Claire saw that he hated the truth expressed that plainly.
Ryan opened his car door.
"Stay away from my daughter until the court decides."
Claire met his eyes.
"That's exactly what I'm doing."
He drove away.
Claire remained outside for several minutes after his car disappeared.
Then her phone rang.
Megan.
Claire answered.
"Did Ryan come there?"
"He just left."
"I'm sorry."
"Did you tell him about the visit?"
"Yes."
"Good."
Megan exhaled shakily.
"That did not go well."
"I noticed."
A pause.
Then Megan said, "There's something else."
Claire closed her eyes.
"There always seems to be."
"I remembered something."
Claire entered the building and climbed the stairs slowly.
"What?"
"Patricia took me to Westbridge before you and Ryan separated."
Claire stopped halfway up.
"When?"
"I don't remember exactly."
"Try."
"Late February."
Claire gripped the railing.
Ryan filed for divorce on April third.
"Why did she take you there?"
Megan's breathing changed.
"She said she wanted to ask about fertility preservation."
"For you?"
"That's what she told me."
Claire resumed climbing.
"Why would Patricia care about your fertility?"
"I'd mentioned that my doctor thought I might have endometriosis."
Claire remembered.
Megan had complained about severe cramps. Claire had encouraged her to get evaluated.
"Patricia said Westbridge was excellent," Megan continued. "She offered to introduce me to someone."
"Marissa?"
"I think so."
Claire unlocked her apartment.
"Describe her."
"Dark hair. Straight. Mid-thirties maybe."
"That was Marissa."
Claire entered and closed the door.
"What did you discuss?"
"At first, egg freezing."
"At first?"
Megan was silent too long.
Claire set down her bag.
"Megan."
"Patricia asked whether I would ever consider carrying a baby for someone else."
The room seemed to tilt slightly.
Claire leaned against the wall.
"What did you say?"
"I laughed."
"Why?"
"Because it came out of nowhere."
"What did she say after?"
"She asked whether pregnancy scared me."
Claire shut her eyes.
"Did Ryan know you were there?"
"I don't know."
"Did you tell him?"
"Not then."
"Why not?"
Megan's voice became smaller.
"Because we were already… talking."
Claire felt nausea rise.
"Talking."
"You know what I mean."
"Say it."
Megan hesitated.
"We had kissed."
The admission should not have mattered after everything Claire already knew.
It did.
"Before Patricia took you to the clinic."
"Yes."
Claire sat down.
"So she knew."
"I never told her."
"Ryan did."
"I don't know."
"Patricia doesn't accidentally take her son's secret romantic interest to a fertility clinic and ask whether she'd carry someone else's baby."
Megan began crying.
Claire let her.
After a while Megan whispered, "There's more."
Claire almost laughed from exhaustion.
"What?"
"Patricia asked whether I had ever thought about being a mother without using my own eggs."
Claire went completely still.
"Exact words?"
"Close."
"Did she mention embryos?"
"Not directly."
"Did she mention me?"
"No."
"Ryan?"
"No."
Claire walked to the window.
Down below, headlights moved along the wet street.
"When did Ryan first tell you about our embryos?"
Megan answered too quickly.
"After he filed."
Claire heard the lie.
"Megan."
Silence.
"Do not do this again."
Another silence.
Then Megan said, "A week before."
Claire closed her eyes.
"Before he filed."
"Yes."
"What did he tell you?"
"That there were embryos left. He said you didn't want them."
"How many?"
"Two."
Claire opened her eyes.
Ryan had known there were two.
Patricia had appeared genuinely surprised when Dr. Reed mentioned the remaining embryo.
The distinction mattered.
"What exactly did Ryan propose?"
Megan's voice shook.
"He said if we became serious, maybe one day we could use one."
"One day."
"Yes."
"But the transfer happened weeks later."
"I know."
"That's not one day. That's a plan already moving."
"I know."
Claire stared at the city lights.
"Megan, I need you to tell your attorney all of this."
"I will."
"Not tomorrow. Tonight."
"Okay."
"And Detective Cole."
Another pause.
"Okay."
Claire ended the call and immediately called Angela.
Her attorney answered on the second ring.
"Please tell me Ryan didn't break into your apartment."
"No."
"Good. That's the first good thing I've heard today."
Claire told her everything.
Angela did not interrupt until Claire mentioned the February clinic visit.
"That predates the divorce filing by more than a month."
"Yes."
"And Patricia was asking Megan about carrying a child."
"Yes."
Angela was silent.
Claire knew what she was thinking.
Premeditation.
The word sounded too clinical for what it meant.
This had not been Ryan reacting recklessly after a marriage collapsed.
Someone had been arranging possibilities while Claire was still wearing her wedding ring.
"There's another problem," Claire said.
"What?"
"Ryan knew there were two embryos. Patricia didn't."
"You're sure?"
"Her reaction at the clinic was real."
Angela considered it.
"So Patricia may have known about a planned transfer but not the complete storage inventory."
"Exactly."
"Which means Ryan withheld information from her too."
Claire sat down at the dining table.
"Or someone told him more than they told Patricia."
Angela exhaled.
"Marissa?"
"Maybe."
Claire looked at the family-services card still tucked beneath her keys.
Tomorrow, Lily would wake up in Megan's home, drink a bottle, perhaps crawl beneath the coffee table and pull at something she shouldn't.
An ordinary baby living inside the consequences of an extraordinary deception.
Claire closed her eyes.
"Angela."
"I'm here."
"I want the remaining embryo moved."
"To another clinic?"
"Immediately."
"That's going to require consent or a court order."
"Then get one."
"Ryan may object."
"I expect him to."
"Any particular reason beyond security?"
Claire looked at the dark window.
"Yes."
"If they planned one transfer before I even knew my marriage was ending, I'm not leaving the last embryo in the same building where somebody already proved the safeguards could be bypassed."
Angela did not hesitate.
"I'll file in the morning."
Claire thanked her and ended the call.
Across town, unknown to her, Ryan was already on the phone with his attorney.
And before midnight, Westbridge's legal department received an emergency notice from Claire's counsel demanding that the final embryo be placed under independent judicial protection.
By morning, someone else had tried to access its file.
Click here to continue reading: PART 7: An Attempt to Open the Final Embryo Record Forces Westbridge to Admit Someone Preserved Access Long After Leaving the Clinic
The Last Person Claire Expected to See at the Fertility Clinic Was the Woman Who Had Celebrated Her Divorce
Part 6 of 35
