For several seconds after the doctor said Richard Sterling\u2019s name, I heard nothing else.<\/p>\n
Not the ventilation in Natalie\u2019s study.<\/p>\n
Not the faint clink of dishes from the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Not Rebecca asking Oakfield to repeat the wording exactly.<\/p>\n
Only one sentence remained.<\/p>\n
Someone had tried to change the paternal-source notation from Carter Sterling to Richard Sterling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat has to be impossible,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
The chief medical officer answered carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are not saying Richard Sterling was the genetic contributor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why is his name in the request?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is what we are investigating.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca\u2019s voice sharpened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho submitted the amendment?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do not have a verified individual identity yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMethod?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAn electronic records request routed through an old administrative portal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCredentials?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot Elaine Mercer\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked at my laptop.<\/p>\n
For the first time in days, that answer surprised me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhose?\u201d<\/p>\n
The doctor hesitated.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe request used credentials associated with a former Oakfield physician.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cName.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDr. Samuel Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did not recognize it.<\/p>\n
Rebecca did.<\/p>\n
Her expression changed.<\/p>\n
\u201cVale was Lauren\u2019s reproductive endocrinologist.\u201d<\/p>\n
The room seemed to narrow.<\/p>\n
I remembered him immediately.<\/p>\n
Gray hair.<\/p>\n
Soft voice.<\/p>\n
Always wearing the same silver watch.<\/p>\n
He had supervised the cycle that produced all four embryos.<\/p>\n
\u201cIs he still practicing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d the doctor said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlive?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRetired in Arizona, according to our records.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cHave you contacted him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe denies submitting the request.\u201d<\/p>\n
Of course he did.<\/p>\n
Another dormant account.<\/p>\n
Another old credential.<\/p>\n
Another attempt to make the system say something it had not said before.<\/p>\n
I pressed one hand against the desk.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy would anyone try to make Richard the genetic father?\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody answered.<\/p>\n
Because there was no reasonable answer.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
Rebecca finally said, \u201cWe need the original embryology records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are assembling them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot summaries. Not migrated data. Original source records.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe understand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cChain of custody.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the window.<\/p>\n
Rain had returned.<\/p>\n
Seattle blurred behind it.<\/p>\n
The possibility forming in my mind felt absurd.<\/p>\n
I rejected it before giving it words.<\/p>\n
Richard could not be the father of embryos Carter and I created.<\/p>\n
I remembered the retrieval.<\/p>\n
The day.<\/p>\n
The labels.<\/p>\n
The clinic.<\/p>\n
Carter sitting beside me.<\/p>\n
Everything had been ordinary within the strange world of IVF.<\/p>\n
No.<\/p>\n
This had to be another manipulation.<\/p>\n
A false amendment designed to confuse parentage.<\/p>\n
But why?<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cLauren, I want you to do something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWrite down everything you remember from that IVF cycle.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo. Write everything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause memory changes once people know what they\u2019re looking for. I want your recollection before we see more documents.\u201d<\/p>\n
She was right.<\/p>\n
I hated that she was right.<\/p>\n
I opened a notebook.<\/p>\n
Retrieval date.<\/p>\n
Transfer dates.<\/p>\n
Which nurse called.<\/p>\n
When Carter provided his sample.<\/p>\n
That detail stopped me.<\/p>\n
I looked up.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter wasn\u2019t with me during retrieval morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca became still.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a board meeting.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho took you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt another cold line run down my back.<\/p>\n
It had been years ago.<\/p>\n
Before Emma.<\/p>\n
Before the fake letter.<\/p>\n
Margaret had driven me to Oakfield because Carter said he could not leave an emergency board session.<\/p>\n
He arrived later.<\/p>\n
I remembered being annoyed.<\/p>\n
Then forgiving him because he showed up before the procedure.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about the sperm sample?\u201d Rebecca asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assumed he had already provided it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you see him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid anyone tell you specifically he had?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t remember.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWrite that.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
The doctor interrupted.<\/p>\n
\u201cMs. Sterling, the cycle documentation lists Carter as the paternal contributor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat remains our official record.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why is someone trying to change it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
After the call, I sat alone for nearly an hour.<\/p>\n
Natalie knocked once.<\/p>\n
I told her to come in.<\/p>\n
She looked at the notebook.<\/p>\n
\u201cMore?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
She waited.<\/p>\n
I finally said, \u201cSomeone tried to change the IVF record to say Richard was the father.\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face went blank.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard as in Carter\u2019s father?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s insane.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you believe it?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The answer came quickly.<\/p>\n
Too quickly.<\/p>\n
Natalie sat across from me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you afraid of?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat this entire story has one more floor underneath it.\u201d<\/p>\n
She did not offer reassurance.<\/p>\n
That was why I trusted her.<\/p>\n
Instead she asked, \u201cWhat would change if Richard actually were the biological father?\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor the trust?\u201d<\/p>\n
I paused.<\/p>\n
That was the first practical answer.<\/p>\n
If Richard were the paternal genetic source, then the male embryo would not be Carter\u2019s son.<\/p>\n
He would be Carter\u2019s half-brother.<\/p>\n
And Richard\u2019s direct son.<\/p>\n
The succession provision might operate entirely differently.<\/p>\n
I felt sick.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo maybe the amendment wasn\u2019t hiding something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie waited.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe it was trying to reveal something.\u201d<\/p>\n
The thought frightened me more.<\/p>\n
Rebecca called again before dinner.<\/p>\n
\u201cOakfield found Dr. Vale\u2019s archived personnel file.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had a consulting relationship after retirement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWith Sterling?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA private reproductive laboratory called Northlake Genetics.\u201d<\/p>\n
I frowned.<\/p>\n
Never heard of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy does that matter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNorthlake handled some genetic testing for high-net-worth patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHigh-net-worth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
I knew what was coming before she said it.<\/p>\n
\u201cSterling family?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAt least one account.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re verifying.\u201d<\/p>\n
My phone buzzed while we spoke.<\/p>\n
Victoria.<\/p>\n
She had found something in William\u2019s storage unit.<\/p>\n
Again.<\/p>\n
I answered.<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease tell me this one is boring.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt isn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa had a file marked Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca heard through speaker.<\/p>\n
\u201cSamuel Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s inside?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLetters.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween whom?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa and Dr. Vale.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca immediately said, \u201cDo not alter anything. Photograph the file where it is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria replied, \u201cAlready did.\u201d<\/p>\n
She sent the first image.<\/p>\n
The letter was twelve years old.<\/p>\n
Before Carter and I started fertility treatment.<\/p>\n
William Sterling to Dr. Samuel Vale.<\/p>\n
Thank you for your discretion regarding Richard\u2019s request. I remain opposed to any reproductive arrangement involving genetic material obtained or used without fully documented consent.<\/p>\n
I stopped breathing.<\/p>\n
Rebecca whispered, \u201cOh my God.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next letter was from Vale.<\/p>\n
I have refused the proposed collection and storage arrangement unless all relevant parties provide written authorization.<\/p>\n
I read it twice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat collection?\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria sent another page.<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s name appeared.<\/p>\n
Not in the body.<\/p>\n
In a handwritten note from William.<\/p>\n
R. believes preserving his own genetic material is necessary in case Carter proves unable to produce a male child.<\/p>\n
The sentence made me physically cold.<\/p>\n
Years before Carter and I created our embryos, Richard had apparently explored storing his own sperm as a contingency.<\/p>\n
I looked at Rebecca.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis doesn\u2019t mean he used it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it means the idea existed.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The oldest absurdity had suddenly become possible.<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s obsession with a male heir had not begun with my embryos.<\/p>\n
It predated them.<\/p>\n
I asked Victoria, \u201cAnything connecting this to our IVF?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
She turned pages.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a later note.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow much later?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout nine years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our IVF year.<\/p>\n
She read aloud.<\/p>\n
Vale contacted me again. Richard has raised the contingency plan. I told him under no circumstances should he interfere with Carter and Lauren\u2019s treatment.<\/p>\n
I closed my eyes.<\/p>\n
William knew.<\/p>\n
At least enough to worry.<\/p>\n
\u201cAny response from Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Victoria sent the image.<\/p>\n
Dr. Vale\u2019s handwriting was difficult but legible.<\/p>\n
I assured William that patient identifiers and gamete sources would be handled according to protocol. Richard\u2019s proposal will not be accommodated.<\/p>\n
I exhaled.<\/p>\n
There.<\/p>\n
Refusal.<\/p>\n
Protocol.<\/p>\n
Maybe the nightmare ended there.<\/p>\n
Then Victoria said, \u201cThere\u2019s something written in the margin.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGrandpa wrote: I do not trust Richard to accept Vale\u2019s answer.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence sat between us.<\/p>\n
Not proof.<\/p>\n
A warning.<\/p>\n
I called Margaret.<\/p>\n
Against Rebecca\u2019s preference, but with her listening.<\/p>\n
Margaret answered immediately.<\/p>\n
I asked one question.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Richard ever store sperm at Oakfield?\u201d<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
Not confusion.<\/p>\n
Silence.<\/p>\n
That told me enough to continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou do know something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe talked about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYears ago.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBefore Chloe?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
Another pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had some ridiculous fear that Carter might not be able to have children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWas Carter infertile?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen why?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard believed the family line needed insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Insurance.<\/p>\n
That family had a word for every human being except person.<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Richard actually provide a sample?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you go with him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid Dr. Vale?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
I believed she truly did not.<\/p>\n
Then she said, \u201cBut Richard kept a Northlake account.\u201d<\/p>\n
I froze.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of account?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGenetic services.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI never asked.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have records?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMaybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe house office.\u201d<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s safe was empty, but not every cabinet.<\/p>\n
Rebecca told her not to search alone.<\/p>\n
Margaret ignored her.<\/p>\n
Five minutes later, she sent a photograph.<\/p>\n
An old invoice.<\/p>\n
Northlake Genetics.<\/p>\n
Client: Richard Sterling.<\/p>\n
Service:<\/p>\n
CRYOSTORAGE \u2014 MALE REPRODUCTIVE SPECIMEN.<\/p>\n
Date:<\/p>\n
Fourteen years earlier.<\/p>\n
Richard had stored sperm.<\/p>\n
That still did not mean it had ever reached my IVF cycle.<\/p>\n
But now we knew his genetic material existed.<\/p>\n
We also knew Dr. Vale knew of Richard\u2019s contingency plan.<\/p>\n
The next morning, Oakfield delivered the original laboratory worksheets.<\/p>\n
Rebecca and I reviewed them with an independent reproductive specialist.<\/p>\n
The first pages looked ordinary.<\/p>\n
My patient ID.<\/p>\n
Egg count.<\/p>\n
Fertilization methods.<\/p>\n
Embryo development.<\/p>\n
Then the specialist stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
She pointed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an accession discrepancy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMeaning?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe paternal sample listed here has a source code different from the one in the main chart.\u201d<\/p>\n
My mouth went dry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat source code?\u201d<\/p>\n
She read it.<\/p>\n
NL-4471.<\/p>\n
Northlake.<\/p>\n
I knew before Rebecca confirmed it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s not Carter\u2019s normal patient ID.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
The specialist searched the attached specimen receipt.<\/p>\n
Northlake Genetics had transferred a cryopreserved sample to Oakfield on the morning of my egg retrieval.<\/p>\n
Recipient physician:<\/p>\n
Samuel Vale.<\/p>\n
The donor name field was blacked out on the copy Oakfield had retained.<\/p>\n
But the accession number matched Northlake\u2019s invoice series.<\/p>\n
Richard\u2019s account.<\/p>\n
I stared at the paper.<\/p>\n
My hands went cold.<\/p>\n
The specialist looked at me carefully.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis still does not prove which sample was used for fertilization.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat would?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe embryology bench log.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca turned pages.<\/p>\n
It was missing.<\/p>\n
Not blank.<\/p>\n
Missing.<\/p>\n
A numbered sheet had been removed.<\/p>\n
The specialist counted.<\/p>\n
Page thirty-two.<\/p>\n
Page thirty-four.<\/p>\n
No page thirty-three.<\/p>\n
And page thirty-three would have recorded which paternal specimen was physically used.<\/p>\n
Someone had removed the one sheet that could answer the question directly.<\/p>\n
Rebecca immediately called Oakfield.<\/p>\n
The clinic searched scanned archives.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
Then physical microfilm.<\/p>\n
Nothing.<\/p>\n
The page had vanished before digitization.<\/p>\n
I looked at the embryos\u2019 genetic testing reports.<\/p>\n
Four embryos.<\/p>\n
Chloe.<\/p>\n
Emma.<\/p>\n
The lost female embryo.<\/p>\n
The boy.<\/p>\n
If Richard\u2019s sample had been used, every one of them could genetically be his children with me.<\/p>\n
Including my daughters.<\/p>\n
I pushed the reports away.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said my name.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not because it was impossible.<\/p>\n
Because Chloe and Emma were upstairs.<\/p>\n
Living their ordinary lives.<\/p>\n
One building a school project.<\/p>\n
One arguing about socks.<\/p>\n
They did not deserve to have their identities torn apart by adult obsession.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said gently, \u201cWe do not know that anything was switched.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOfficial records still list Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe test evidence, not fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded.<\/p>\n
That became the sentence I held onto.<\/p>\n
Evidence.<\/p>\n
Not fear.<\/p>\n
Then Oakfield\u2019s forensic team called again.<\/p>\n
They had recovered an old email from Dr. Vale\u2019s archived account.<\/p>\n
Sent the night before my retrieval.<\/p>\n
To Richard Sterling.<\/p>\n
Subject:<\/p>\n
Tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Body:<\/p>\n
I will not substitute your specimen. Do not ask me again.<\/p>\n
I exhaled hard.<\/p>\n
Relief came fast.<\/p>\n
Then Rebecca scrolled.<\/p>\n
There was a reply.<\/p>\n
Richard:<\/p>\n
Understood.<\/p>\n
Two minutes later, another email left Richard\u2019s account.<\/p>\n
Not to Vale.<\/p>\n
To Elaine Mercer.<\/p>\n
One line.<\/p>\n
Then we handle the accession before he arrives.<\/p>\n
I stared at it.<\/p>\n
Elaine had been working records.<\/p>\n
She had access to specimen intake.<\/p>\n
And Richard had just told her to \u201chandle the accession\u201d after Vale refused the substitution.<\/p>\n
The scheme might have started before the embryos even existed.<\/p>\n
For several seconds after the doctor said Richard Sterling\u2019s name, I heard nothing else. Not the ventilation in Natalie\u2019s study. Not the faint clink of dishes from the kitchen. Not … <\/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-24452","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\/24452","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=24452"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24452\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24487,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24452\/revisions\/24487"}],"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=24452"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24452"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24452"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}