The photograph stayed on the conference table after Victoria left.<\/p>\n
I could not stop looking at Carter\u2019s hand.<\/p>\n
It rested casually at Jessica\u2019s waist.<\/p>\n
Not the awkward touch of a colleague.<\/p>\n
Not a greeting.<\/p>\n
Familiarity.<\/p>\n
Possession.<\/p>\n
Their faces were turned toward each other in the particular way people look when the rest of the room has disappeared.<\/p>\n
Twenty-two months earlier.<\/p>\n
At the time, Carter and I had still been attending marriage counseling.<\/p>\n
He had been telling me he wanted to rebuild trust.<\/p>\n
He had been taking the girls for Saturday breakfasts.<\/p>\n
He had bought me an anniversary bracelet three weeks after that photograph was taken.<\/p>\n
The memory made me physically ill.<\/p>\n
Aaron gathered his notes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to step out and give you two a few minutes.\u201d<\/p>\n
He left the room.<\/p>\n
Rebecca remained on the monitor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need to separate the emotional betrayal from the reproductive issue.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not saying it doesn\u2019t matter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt establishes the timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt means Jessica knew him before the consulting arrangement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd if she knew about the storage payments later, she may have already had a personal motive.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop saying possibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m your attorney. Possibly matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
I leaned back and closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca softened.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren, the facts are moving quickly. That is exactly when assumptions become dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen give me facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: Carter lied about when his relationship with Jessica began.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: Jessica later obtained consulting access to Sterling records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: storage payments for your male embryo appeared in those records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: Jessica had previously worked at Oakfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: her deceased mother\u2019s credentials were used to override an identity mismatch on the embryo release.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: a forged version of your signature authorized that release.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFact: Carter\u2019s signature appears genuine.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is already enough to justify aggressive discovery without inventing anything we cannot prove.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Unknown number.<\/p>\n
I almost ignored it.<\/p>\n
Then a text appeared.<\/p>\n
Lauren, this is Jessica. Carter doesn\u2019t know I\u2019m contacting you.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
Rebecca saw my expression.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
I read the message aloud.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo not reply yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message arrived.<\/p>\n
I know you hate me. You have every reason to. But he is lying to you about what happened.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cScreenshot everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
A third message.<\/p>\n
He knew the embryo was yours before the transfer.<\/p>\n
My chest tightened.<\/p>\n
I whispered, \u201cShe\u2019s turning on him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOr manipulating you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I continued reading.<\/p>\n
He told me you had abandoned the embryo years ago and signed away your rights. He showed me documents.<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cInteresting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf she is telling the truth, she\u2019s building a defense around reliance on false documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo now Carter forged everything?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPotentially her claim.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message appeared.<\/p>\n
I did not forge your signature.<\/p>\n
I laughed bitterly.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow convenient.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cStill don\u2019t answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then came a photograph.<\/p>\n
A document.<\/p>\n
I opened it.<\/p>\n
It looked like a consent form.<\/p>\n
My name appeared at the bottom.<\/p>\n
Lauren Bennett Sterling.<\/p>\n
The signature was not mine.<\/p>\n
But unlike the release form Oakfield had described, this document was older.<\/p>\n
Much older.<\/p>\n
The date was six years earlier.<\/p>\n
Just after the fake destruction letter.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cSend that to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
I forwarded it.<\/p>\n
She zoomed in.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you recognize the witness?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked.<\/p>\n
The signature beside mine read:<\/p>\n
Elaine Mercer.<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n
My heart began pounding.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat is this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca read the title.<\/p>\n
\u201cDirective Regarding Future Disposition and Intended Use.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never saw that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI believe you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat does it say?\u201d<\/p>\n
She read silently for several seconds.<\/p>\n
Then her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis document appears to authorize Carter to make unilateral decisions about the male embryo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt heat rise into my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never signed anything like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s six years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo someone created a fake authorization six years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said possibly again.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I need the original.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message from Jessica arrived.<\/p>\n
Carter gave me that when we first discussed using the embryo. I believed it was valid.<\/p>\n
I stared at the words.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cAsk nothing yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want to know when.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe already know the relationship predates his story.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI want her version.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen let me structure the questions.\u201d<\/p>\n
I waited while Rebecca typed an email to me with wording she wanted preserved.<\/p>\n
I copied the first question.<\/p>\n
When did Carter first show you this document?<\/p>\n
Jessica answered almost immediately.<\/p>\n
About a year ago.<\/p>\n
Not six years ago.<\/p>\n
One year.<\/p>\n
I sent the next question.<\/p>\n
When did you first learn the male embryo existed?<\/p>\n
Her answer took longer.<\/p>\n
Before I started consulting for Sterling.<\/p>\n
Rebecca and I both froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s significant,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
I typed:<\/p>\n
How?<\/p>\n
Three dots appeared.<\/p>\n
Disappeared.<\/p>\n
Returned.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
My mother told me.<\/p>\n
The conference room felt suddenly smaller.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned closer to the screen.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk when.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Jessica responded:<\/p>\n
Years ago. She said she had helped a wealthy patient preserve an embryo his wife wanted discarded.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
Elaine Mercer had known.<\/p>\n
Not merely through paperwork.<\/p>\n
She had apparently been personally involved.<\/p>\n
I typed:<\/p>\n
Did she identify Carter?<\/p>\n
Yes.<\/p>\n
Did she identify me?<\/p>\n
Not by name. Later I figured it out.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d I whispered.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cAsk.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica replied:<\/p>\n
When I started consulting for Sterling, I saw the storage payments and the account number. I remembered what my mother had told me.<\/p>\n
The pieces were locking together.<\/p>\n
Jessica had not stumbled onto the embryo after starting an affair.<\/p>\n
She had heard about it years earlier.<\/p>\n
Then she entered Sterling\u2019s orbit and recognized the storage account.<\/p>\n
I typed the question before Rebecca could stop me.<\/p>\n
Did you pursue Carter because of the embryo?<\/p>\n
Jessica did not answer for three full minutes.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
At first, I wanted to understand why they were still paying for it.<\/p>\n
That was not a denial.<\/p>\n
I sent:<\/p>\n
That wasn\u2019t my question.<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica answered.<\/p>\n
No. I didn\u2019t start seeing him because of the embryo.<\/p>\n
Then a second message arrived.<\/p>\n
But once we were together, I told him I knew about it.<\/p>\n
A third.<\/p>\n
He said it was supposed to be his son.<\/p>\n
I stared at that sentence.<\/p>\n
Supposed to be.<\/p>\n
Not could become.<\/p>\n
Not might have been.<\/p>\n
Supposed to be.<\/p>\n
As if biology had made a promise.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cSave all of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
I already had.<\/p>\n
I asked:<\/p>\n
What did he tell you about me?<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s response came quickly.<\/p>\n
That you had refused to have another child and signed control over the remaining embryo to him.<\/p>\n
I remembered my emergency delivery.<\/p>\n
My doctor warning another pregnancy could endanger me.<\/p>\n
My agreement with Carter that our family was complete.<\/p>\n
He had apparently translated those facts into something far uglier.<\/p>\n
Refused to have another child.<\/p>\n
As though I had denied him something.<\/p>\n
Another message.<\/p>\n
He said you knew he might use the embryo someday.<\/p>\n
I laughed.<\/p>\n
Rebecca looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told her I knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat conflicts with his own old email saying you believed the embryos were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
Carter had created different stories for different people.<\/p>\n
To me, the embryo was destroyed.<\/p>\n
To Jessica, I had relinquished control.<\/p>\n
To Richard, secrecy was necessary so I would not interfere.<\/p>\n
Each lie had been tailored to the audience.<\/p>\n
My phone rang.<\/p>\n
Carter.<\/p>\n
I declined it.<\/p>\n
Immediately, a text arrived.<\/p>\n
Do not speak to Jessica.<\/p>\n
Rebecca raised an eyebrow.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knows.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jessica\u2019s thread.<\/p>\n
Maybe she had told him.<\/p>\n
Maybe he was monitoring her.<\/p>\n
Maybe his attorney had warned him.<\/p>\n
I did not know.<\/p>\n
Carter sent another message.<\/p>\n
She is unstable and trying to protect herself.<\/p>\n
Jessica sent one at nearly the same moment.<\/p>\n
He will tell you I planned everything.<\/p>\n
I stared at both screens.<\/p>\n
Two people who had built a secret life together were now racing to assign responsibility.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cThis is useful.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt can be both.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica sent another message.<\/p>\n
There is something you don\u2019t know about the transfer.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
The first transfer failed.<\/p>\n
I sat perfectly still.<\/p>\n
Rebecca whispered, \u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
A new message appeared.<\/p>\n
The pregnancy I have now came from a second embryo.<\/p>\n
I read it again.<\/p>\n
Second embryo.<\/p>\n
My pulse roared in my ears.<\/p>\n
There had been two embryos remaining after Chloe and Emma.<\/p>\n
One male.<\/p>\n
One female.<\/p>\n
Everything we had seen so far referenced the male embryo.<\/p>\n
I typed:<\/p>\n
What second embryo?<\/p>\n
Jessica did not answer.<\/p>\n
I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s saying they used another one.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s face had gone completely still.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk her exactly which embryo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Thirty seconds.<\/p>\n
A minute.<\/p>\n
Two.<\/p>\n
Then the message arrived.<\/p>\n
The female embryo from your storage account was thawed first.<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
The supposedly destroyed female embryo.<\/p>\n
The one no storage invoice had mentioned.<\/p>\n
Jessica continued.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t implant.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
My daughter\u2019s genetic sibling had not simply disappeared from storage records.<\/p>\n
Carter and Jessica had used her too.<\/p>\n
And she had died in a failed transfer I never knew had happened.<\/p>\n
The photograph stayed on the conference table after Victoria left. I could not stop looking at Carter\u2019s hand. It rested casually at Jessica\u2019s waist. Not the awkward touch of a … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24435,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-24442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-insightdrama"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=24442"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24477,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24442\/revisions\/24477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/24435"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}