For several seconds, neither Rebecca nor I spoke.<\/p>\n
I read Jessica\u2019s message again.<\/p>\n
The female embryo from your storage account was thawed first.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t implant.<\/p>\n
The words were clinical.<\/p>\n
They described a medical outcome.<\/p>\n
But what I felt was grief.<\/p>\n
Unexpected.<\/p>\n
Complicated.<\/p>\n
Immediate.<\/p>\n
I had spent years believing that embryo had been destroyed alongside the male one.<\/p>\n
Then I learned the male had survived.<\/p>\n
Now I discovered the female embryo had survived too.<\/p>\n
Not only survived.<\/p>\n
She had been thawed.<\/p>\n
Transferred.<\/p>\n
Lost.<\/p>\n
Without my knowledge.<\/p>\n
Without my consent.<\/p>\n
Without even the dignity of my knowing she had existed a little longer than I believed.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said my name.<\/p>\n
I could not answer.<\/p>\n
She tried again.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to verify this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cJessica may be lying.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe may be minimizing her own involvement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
But I also knew something else.<\/p>\n
The absence of storage invoices for the female embryo had bothered me from the beginning.<\/p>\n
I had assumed only one had been secretly preserved.<\/p>\n
Perhaps both had been preserved, but only the male\u2019s expenses were deliberately routed through Sterling accounts.<\/p>\n
Perhaps the female embryo\u2019s records had been hidden another way.<\/p>\n
Or perhaps the invoices in Rebecca\u2019s folder were incomplete.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do we have on the female embryo?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cVery little.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe financial trail we found during the divorce referenced only the male embryo\u2019s identification number.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how was the female stored?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCan Oakfield check?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey will now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at Jessica\u2019s message.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did the first transfer happen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk her.\u201d<\/p>\n
I typed.<\/p>\n
Jessica answered:<\/p>\n
Eleven months ago.<\/p>\n
I did the math.<\/p>\n
Before I filed for divorce.<\/p>\n
Before Carter moved out.<\/p>\n
Before he admitted the affair.<\/p>\n
Before I even knew she existed in his life.<\/p>\n
My stomach turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said the photograph was twenty-two months old,\u201d Rebecca said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo their relationship had already been ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he was still married to you when the first embryo transfer occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The significance sharpened.<\/p>\n
Carter had not waited until our marriage ended.<\/p>\n
He had not even waited until separation.<\/p>\n
He had been attempting to create a child with another woman using an embryo genetically created by his wife while continuing to live at home with me.<\/p>\n
I remembered those months.<\/p>\n
Carter becoming distant.<\/p>\n
Late meetings.<\/p>\n
Sudden work trips.<\/p>\n
The counseling sessions where he complained that I had \u201cemotionally withdrawn.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had been trying to impregnate Jessica with my embryo while accusing me of failing the marriage.<\/p>\n
I stood.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need air.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t leave the conference room alone if you\u2019re upset.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going anywhere.\u201d<\/p>\n
I walked to the window.<\/p>\n
Seattle traffic moved below.<\/p>\n
People crossed intersections carrying umbrellas.<\/p>\n
The world looked insultingly ordinary.<\/p>\n
My phone vibrated.<\/p>\n
Jessica.<\/p>\n
Carter was there for both transfers.<\/p>\n
I showed Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cSave it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then another.<\/p>\n
Richard paid part of the clinic fees through a private account.<\/p>\n
I stared at the screen.<\/p>\n
Richard again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew about the transfers.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAccording to Jessica.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another message came.<\/p>\n
He only knew about the second transfer at first. Carter told him after the first failed.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cThat distinction matters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot morally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLegally.\u201d<\/p>\n
I turned.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you ever get tired of telling people that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
That answer was so immediate that I almost smiled.<\/p>\n
Almost.<\/p>\n
I typed:<\/p>\n
Why are you telling me this now?<\/p>\n
Jessica took several minutes.<\/p>\n
Then:<\/p>\n
Because Carter is saying I stole the embryo and tricked him.<\/p>\n
I read the message aloud.<\/p>\n
Rebecca nodded once.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Self-preservation.<\/p>\n
Not remorse.<\/p>\n
At least not primarily.<\/p>\n
Jessica continued.<\/p>\n
He signed everything.<\/p>\n
He chose the clinic dates.<\/p>\n
He knew the first embryo was female.<\/p>\n
That stopped me.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca frowned.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe first embryo was female. He knew that before the transfer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat would be consistent with the old genetic screening.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered Carter\u2019s courthouse words.<\/p>\n
Take the girls.<\/p>\n
I have a son coming now.<\/p>\n
Girls discarded.<\/p>\n
Boy celebrated.<\/p>\n
Yet he had approved the transfer of a female embryo first.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
Rebecca understood.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the goal was a son, why use the female embryo?\u201d<\/p>\n
Exactly.<\/p>\n
I typed the question to Jessica.<\/p>\n
Her answer arrived quickly.<\/p>\n
Because Carter said we should use her first in case the transfer failed.<\/p>\n
My body went cold.<\/p>\n
Rebecca whispered, \u201cRead that again.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
Carter had treated the female embryo as a test.<\/p>\n
A lower-value attempt.<\/p>\n
Something expendable before risking the boy.<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
My hands were shaking now.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe used her as practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know his exact reasoning beyond Jessica\u2019s claim.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said in case the transfer failed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what she says he said.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at the photograph of Carter and Jessica.<\/p>\n
For the first time that day, rage overtook grief.<\/p>\n
Not loud rage.<\/p>\n
Not dramatic.<\/p>\n
Something cleaner.<\/p>\n
More dangerous.<\/p>\n
Carter had spent years presenting himself as pragmatic.<\/p>\n
He called emotional attachment irrational whenever it interfered with his plans.<\/p>\n
Now that trait had reached its logical end.<\/p>\n
He had placed different values on embryos based on sex.<\/p>\n
One for practice.<\/p>\n
One for legacy.<\/p>\n
I asked Jessica:<\/p>\n
Did Richard know the first embryo was female?<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
Did Carter tell him after it failed?<\/p>\n
He told Richard there had been an unsuccessful preliminary attempt.<\/p>\n
Preliminary.<\/p>\n
The word made me close my eyes.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cForward everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone rang again.<\/p>\n
This time I answered.<\/p>\n
Rebecca sat up sharply.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
I raised one finger.<\/p>\n
Carter\u2019s voice came immediately.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God.\u201d<\/p>\n
I said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren, listen to me before Jessica poisons this.\u201d<\/p>\n
I put the call on speaker.<\/p>\n
Rebecca began recording through the conference system after confirming our jurisdiction allowed her to preserve the call appropriately.<\/p>\n
Carter continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe is lying to protect herself.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me she handled the paperwork.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also signed it.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she send you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnswer the question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you sign documents authorizing embryo transfers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Then, \u201cI signed documents based on what she told me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat isn\u2019t an answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca typed something and held it toward the camera.<\/p>\n
ASK BOTH TRANSFERS.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth transfers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter went quiet.<\/p>\n
I waited.<\/p>\n
Finally he said, \u201cYou don\u2019t understand the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
My grip tightened around the phone.<\/p>\n
\u201cWere there two transfers?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The admission settled heavily.<\/p>\n
I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich embryo was used first?\u201d<\/p>\n
He did not answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe female.\u201d<\/p>\n
I shut my eyes.<\/p>\n
Hearing him say it was worse.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you knew?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou approved it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
His breathing changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the embryo the clinic recommended using first.\u201d<\/p>\n
That contradicted Jessica.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren, stop interrogating me like this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did the clinic recommend her first?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause the male embryo had a slightly stronger grading.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was plausible.<\/p>\n
Perhaps true.<\/p>\n
Perhaps convenient.<\/p>\n
I remembered our original reports.<\/p>\n
I did not remember the grading difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have that recommendation in writing?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why did Jessica tell me you wanted to use the female embryo first in case the transfer failed?\u201d<\/p>\n
He swore under his breath.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should not be talking to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou should not have used my embryos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey were ours.\u201d<\/p>\n
The words hit with astonishing force.<\/p>\n
\u201cOurs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou told me they were destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n
He inhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was Dad\u2019s idea.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s eyes sharpened.<\/p>\n
I nearly missed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat was his idea?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe letter.\u201d<\/p>\n
There.<\/p>\n
An admission.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fake destruction letter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t say fake.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it real?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas it issued by Oakfield?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
My fingers went numb.<\/p>\n
Rebecca was writing quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho created it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho gave it to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard.<\/p>\n
The origin of the deception.<\/p>\n
Not speculation now.<\/p>\n
Carter had admitted it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you gave it to me knowing it wasn\u2019t from Oakfield?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew the embryos were still stored.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo yes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren, I was under enormous pressure.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know how he is about the family.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cSay what he wanted.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA grandson.\u201d<\/p>\n
There it was.<\/p>\n
I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
She stared back.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid your father tell you to preserve the male embryo?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he tell you to lie to me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said there was no point upsetting you if you\u2019d already decided you didn\u2019t want more children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t his decision.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know that now.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed softly.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI handled it badly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBadly.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m trying to fix this.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou used both of my remaining embryos with your mistress.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe wasn\u2019t my mistress then.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence came out automatically.<\/p>\n
Then he stopped.<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
Rebecca did too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you just say?\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter said nothing.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said she wasn\u2019t your mistress then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI meant\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re correcting the label, not the timeline.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not what I meant.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen did your relationship with Jessica begin?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLauren.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a photograph from twenty-two months ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Long enough.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho gave you that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat matters more than whether it\u2019s true?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen when?\u201d<\/p>\n
He exhaled.<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout two years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
Another lie removed.<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore the consulting contract.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you told me we were rebuilding our marriage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore you started pushing me to transfer more control of Sterling assets into your name.\u201d<\/p>\n
His silence told me I had touched something.<\/p>\n
I opened my eyes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. That was different.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca typed rapidly.<\/p>\n
ASK WHY FINANCIAL CONTROL.<\/p>\n
I repeated the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy were you trying to move assets then?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt had nothing to do with the embryos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDad wanted the succession structure simplified.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the male heir?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re making this sound worse than it was.\u201d<\/p>\n
That phrase.<\/p>\n
Always.<\/p>\n
As though reality was unfair to him because it refused to accept his preferred description.<\/p>\n
I lowered my voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you and your father restructure assets in anticipation of a son conceived from my embryo?\u201d<\/p>\n
His answer was almost inaudible.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca leaned back.<\/p>\n
The call had moved beyond family betrayal.<\/p>\n
Money was now tied directly to motive.<\/p>\n
I asked one final question.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Jessica forge my signature?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you knew I had not signed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
I repeated it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew I had not signed the transfer authorization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room became very still.<\/p>\n
Carter had spent the previous twenty-four hours trying to place the forged consent on Jessica.<\/p>\n
Now he had admitted the essential fact.<\/p>\n
He knew my consent did not exist.<\/p>\n
I ended the call.<\/p>\n
Rebecca immediately said, \u201cDo not answer him again without counsel.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
My phone began ringing almost instantly.<\/p>\n
I declined it.<\/p>\n
A message appeared from Carter.<\/p>\n
Please don\u2019t use that call against me.<\/p>\n
I took a screenshot.<\/p>\n
Then another email notification arrived.<\/p>\n
Sender: Rebecca Shaw.<\/p>\n
Subject: FOUND IN CARTER\u2019S DISCOVERY ARCHIVE.<\/p>\n
She had forwarded an old email recovered from the divorce production.<\/p>\n
Carter to Richard.<\/p>\n
Dated thirteen months earlier.<\/p>\n
The message was brief.<\/p>\n
Jessica has agreed to proceed. We\u2019ll use the female first and preserve the male if the initial transfer fails. Lauren cannot know until we have certainty.<\/p>\n
I stared at the sentence.<\/p>\n
No doctor recommendation.<\/p>\n
No confusion.<\/p>\n
No deception by Jessica.<\/p>\n
Carter had planned the order himself.<\/p>\n
Female first.<\/p>\n
Male preserved.<\/p>\n
Lauren cannot know.<\/p>\n
The email ended with a final line.<\/p>\n
Once the boy is secured, we can finalize the succession changes before the divorce becomes public.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
Then a third time.<\/p>\n
The divorce had not merely followed the embryo transfers.<\/p>\n
Carter had already been planning it.<\/p>\n
The son, the trust, the affair, the financial restructuring, and the end of our marriage had all been parts of the same plan.<\/p>\n
For several seconds, neither Rebecca nor I spoke. I read Jessica\u2019s message again. The female embryo from your storage account was thawed first. It didn\u2019t implant. The words were clinical. … <\/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-24443","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\/24443","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=24443"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24443\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24478,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24443\/revisions\/24478"}],"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=24443"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24443"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24443"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}