I did not sleep.<\/p>\n
At three in the morning, I stood outside the guest room listening to Chloe and Emma breathe.<\/p>\n
The hallway light cast a narrow strip across the carpet.<\/p>\n
Emma had kicked off her blanket.<\/p>\n
Chloe slept curled around a pillow.<\/p>\n
They were the same girls they had been yesterday.<\/p>\n
That fact should have settled me.<\/p>\n
It did not.<\/p>\n
Biology was not love.<\/p>\n
I knew that.<\/p>\n
Parentage was not presence.<\/p>\n
I knew that too.<\/p>\n
But the possibility that the story of their conception had been manipulated without my consent opened a different wound.<\/p>\n
My daughters\u2019 identities had been treated as variables in Richard\u2019s succession experiment before they were even born.<\/p>\n
I pulled Emma\u2019s blanket back over her.<\/p>\n
Then I went downstairs.<\/p>\n
Natalie found me at sunrise.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoffee?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPlease.\u201d<\/p>\n
She made two.<\/p>\n
Neither of us spoke until she sat.<\/p>\n
I told her about Richard\u2019s email.<\/p>\n
Then the missing bench log.<\/p>\n
Then the Northlake specimen.<\/p>\n
She listened.<\/p>\n
Finally she said, \u201cAre you going to test the girls?\u201d<\/p>\n
The question hurt because it was obvious.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou mean you don\u2019t know yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWould they need to know?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEventually, if the result changed something medically.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLegally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRebecca says maybe.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEmotionally?\u201d<\/p>\n
I looked toward the ceiling.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re children.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat wasn\u2019t my question.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
I rubbed both hands over my face.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m afraid the test would answer a question they didn\u2019t ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
Natalie nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat sounds like the right fear.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not the answer.<\/p>\n
The fear.<\/p>\n
At eight-thirty, Rebecca called.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need to interview Margaret formally.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe knows something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat changed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOakfield recovered visitor logs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor retrieval day?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse jumped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho was there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou. Margaret. Dr. Vale. Elaine Mercer.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot until later.\u201d<\/p>\n
That matched my memory.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo badge scan.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cCould he have entered another way?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPossibly.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was that word.<\/p>\n
I no longer resented it.<\/p>\n
Possibility was the space before proof.<\/p>\n
\u201cMargaret was there longer than I remember,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThree hours.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told me she waited.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe left the waiting area twice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce to pharmacy consultation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd once to restricted laboratory administration.\u201d<\/p>\n
Not normal.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s what we need to ask.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret agreed to speak with us that afternoon.<\/p>\n
She looked ten years older on video.<\/p>\n
No makeup.<\/p>\n
No jewelry except her wedding ring.<\/p>\n
The Sterling polish had vanished.<\/p>\n
Rebecca advised her to have counsel.<\/p>\n
Margaret refused.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m done having lawyers translate my family.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cThat is your choice, but I still recommend\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cAsk.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you go into laboratory administration the morning of my egg retrieval?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her face changed.<\/p>\n
She remembered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed Richard.\u201d<\/p>\n
Every muscle in my body tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou said he wasn\u2019t there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I didn\u2019t know if he went with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat is not the same.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStart again.\u201d<\/p>\n
She pressed her fingertips together.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard showed up after I brought you in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cParking garage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou saw him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he speak to you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told me he had business with someone at the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t say.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy didn\u2019t you tell me?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause at the time I didn\u2019t think it involved you.\u201d<\/p>\n
I laughed without humor.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou were at my fertility clinic on retrieval morning.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything there involved me.\u201d<\/p>\n
She flinched.<\/p>\n
Good.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw him enter a staff corridor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA woman let him in.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cElaine?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou knew her?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot by name then.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did she look like?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret described Elaine.<\/p>\n
Older.<\/p>\n
Dark hair.<\/p>\n
Glasses.<\/p>\n
Exactly consistent with employee photographs.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed because Richard had been behaving strangely for weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat kind of strange?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe kept asking Carter about your treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat questions?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow many embryos. Whether sex testing would be done. When samples were provided.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd this did not alarm you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you said nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought he was being intrusive. Richard was always intrusive.\u201d<\/p>\n
That was the problem with chronic cruelty.<\/p>\n
It disguised escalation.<\/p>\n
Bad behavior becomes familiar enough that worse behavior can hide inside it.<\/p>\n
Margaret continued.<\/p>\n
\u201cI followed them to an office near the lab.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid they see you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did you hear?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard was angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA doctor refusing something.\u201d<\/p>\n
Vale.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat exactly?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018Samuel has lost his nerve.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
Rebecca wrote quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnything else?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe told Elaine, \u2018Use the reserve sample. The paperwork can be corrected later.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
The room went silent.<\/p>\n
Reserve sample.<\/p>\n
Northlake.<\/p>\n
Richard.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Elaine say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe told him it was too risky.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said he had already paid her enough to stop pretending she had principles.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jessica\u2019s mother.<\/p>\n
Already compromised before the fake destruction letter.<\/p>\n
My hands shook.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened next?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI heard footsteps and left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou never asked him?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI did.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat it involved confidential genetic screening for the company health program.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid you believe that?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cFor about a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat happened after a day?\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret looked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cCarter came home furious.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe had discovered Richard went to Oakfield.\u201d<\/p>\n
My pulse changed.<\/p>\n
Carter knew Richard had been there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Carter say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe accused Richard of interfering.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cDid he say how?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Richard say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThat Carter should thank him someday.\u201d<\/p>\n
The sentence made my skin crawl.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen what?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey stopped talking for nearly two weeks.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd you still said nothing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret\u2019s eyes filled.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause I was a coward.\u201d<\/p>\n
The simplicity disarmed me more than excuse would have.<\/p>\n
She did not blame Richard.<\/p>\n
Did not say she was protecting me.<\/p>\n
Coward.<\/p>\n
I believed that too.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked, \u201cDid Carter ever discuss the specimen source with you?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter Chloe was born.\u201d<\/p>\n
My breath stopped.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did he say?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe asked Richard whether he had changed anything at the clinic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018She\u2019s healthy. Why are you asking questions that can only hurt you?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
I felt nauseated.<\/p>\n
Carter had suspected.<\/p>\n
Years ago.<\/p>\n
Before Emma.<\/p>\n
Before the fake destruction letter.<\/p>\n
He had suspected Richard interfered with the IVF sample and did not tell me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat did Carter do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at her.<\/p>\n
\u201cNothing?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe walked out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd continued having children with me through those embryos.\u201d<\/p>\n
Margaret began crying.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe transferred another embryo for Emma.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKnowing there might be a question about the paternal source.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know exactly what he knew.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he suspected.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd then he preserved the remaining embryos.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd later used them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entire betrayal expanded again.<\/p>\n
Even if Carter had not orchestrated the initial specimen interference, he may have suspected it for years.<\/p>\n
And he continued using those embryos anyway.<\/p>\n
Without telling me.<\/p>\n
Without giving me the choice to investigate.<\/p>\n
Without giving Chloe or Emma the possibility of knowing their genetic history.<\/p>\n
I ended the call before anger made me useless.<\/p>\n
Rebecca stayed on.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need a break.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot now.\u201d<\/p>\n
She understood that pushing would fail.<\/p>\n
So she changed direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need evidence from Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHis old emails.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019ll claim he didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThen we look for what he actually wrote.\u201d<\/p>\n
She had already started.<\/p>\n
Search terms:<\/p>\n
sample.<\/p>\n
Richard.<\/p>\n
Vale.<\/p>\n
Oakfield.<\/p>\n
father.<\/p>\n
DNA.<\/p>\n
Two hours later, she found one.<\/p>\n
Carter to William Sterling.<\/p>\n
Nine years ago.<\/p>\n
Subject:<\/p>\n
Dad crossed a line.<\/p>\n
I read the email.<\/p>\n
Grandpa, I think Dad interfered with the clinic. He won\u2019t tell me what he did. Vale says nothing changed, but Dad keeps acting like I owe him something. Lauren cannot know until I am certain. She has been through enough.<\/p>\n
At first, the last sentence almost sounded protective.<\/p>\n
Then I kept reading.<\/p>\n
If this turns out to be what I think it is, I will deal with Dad privately. I do not want Lauren making a decision about the embryos before we know whether we have a son among them.<\/p>\n
I stopped.<\/p>\n
There.<\/p>\n
Even then.<\/p>\n
The male embryo mattered more than my right to know.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cHe was already thinking about preserving the boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe may not have known Richard\u2019s sample was used.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut he deliberately withheld the suspicion.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another email from William followed.<\/p>\n
Tell Lauren immediately. The embryos concern her body and her future children. You do not get to decide what uncertainty she is allowed to know.<\/p>\n
I swallowed.<\/p>\n
Carter replied:<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
Two words.<\/p>\n
Not yet.<\/p>\n
That phrase had apparently lasted nine years.<\/p>\n
I sat with it until Rebecca found another message.<\/p>\n
This one from Carter to Richard.<\/p>\n
Two months after Chloe\u2019s birth.<\/p>\n
I asked Vale directly. He says my sample was used. If you did something else, tell me now.<\/p>\n
Richard replied:<\/p>\n
You have a healthy daughter. Stop digging.<\/p>\n
Carter:<\/p>\n
That isn\u2019t an answer.<\/p>\n
Richard:<\/p>\n
It is the only one you need.<\/p>\n
No admission.<\/p>\n
No denial.<\/p>\n
Carter kept digging for a while.<\/p>\n
Then stopped.<\/p>\n
Why?<\/p>\n
A later email explained.<\/p>\n
Richard:<\/p>\n
If you insist on turning this into a scandal, the clinic will destroy every remaining embryo while ownership is litigated.<\/p>\n
Carter:<\/p>\n
You can\u2019t do that.<\/p>\n
Richard:<\/p>\n
Then stop.<\/p>\n
I stared at the exchange.<\/p>\n
Richard had threatened the embryos.<\/p>\n
Carter chose silence.<\/p>\n
Rebecca said, \u201cThat gives context.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt doesn\u2019t excuse him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because he had choices.<\/p>\n
Tell me.<\/p>\n
Challenge Richard.<\/p>\n
Preserve evidence.<\/p>\n
Seek legal advice.<\/p>\n
Instead, Carter chose secrecy.<\/p>\n
Maybe initially from fear of losing the embryos.<\/p>\n
Later from ambition.<\/p>\n
Eventually from obsession.<\/p>\n
The motive evolved.<\/p>\n
The lie remained.<\/p>\n
Then Oakfield called.<\/p>\n
They had found the first useful biological evidence.<\/p>\n
A retained quality-control sample from my IVF cycle.<\/p>\n
Not enough to establish complete paternity.<\/p>\n
But enough to compare genetic markers.<\/p>\n
The sample originated from the paternal specimen used in at least one fertilization batch.<\/p>\n
Rebecca asked the question.<\/p>\n
\u201cCan it be compared to Carter and Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n
My stomach tightened.<\/p>\n
\u201cDo you have their samples?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot currently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carter could be compelled eventually.<\/p>\n
Richard was missing.<\/p>\n
Then Victoria said something I had forgotten.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe family genealogy project.\u201d<\/p>\n
Everyone looked at her.<\/p>\n
Three years earlier, Margaret had given the family home DNA kits for Christmas.<\/p>\n
A ridiculous attempt at creating a Sterling ancestry book.<\/p>\n
Carter had participated.<\/p>\n
Richard had too.<\/p>\n
The data might still exist.<\/p>\n
Margaret found the account.<\/p>\n
Not raw medical-grade evidence.<\/p>\n
But potentially enough to guide the investigation.<\/p>\n
With proper consent and legal process, the company retained downloadable autosomal files.<\/p>\n
Rebecca secured them.<\/p>\n
The independent geneticist compared them with Oakfield\u2019s retained sample.<\/p>\n
Hours passed.<\/p>\n
I did not wait by the phone.<\/p>\n
I made dinner.<\/p>\n
I helped Emma with spelling.<\/p>\n
I listened to Chloe describe an art project.<\/p>\n
At 9:17 p.m., Rebecca called.<\/p>\n
Her voice told me before the words did.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe retained paternal sample is not consistent with Carter.\u201d<\/p>\n
I sat down.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd Richard?\u201d<\/p>\n
A pause.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is strongly consistent with Richard being the source.\u201d<\/p>\n
For several seconds, I could not move.<\/p>\n
Not legal proof yet.<\/p>\n
Not final proof.<\/p>\n
But enough.<\/p>\n
Enough to change the question.<\/p>\n
If the same specimen had been used across all four embryos, then Chloe and Emma might not be Carter\u2019s biological daughters.<\/p>\n
They might be Richard Sterling\u2019s.<\/p>\n
And the unborn boy Jessica carried might not be Carter\u2019s son.<\/p>\n
He might be Carter\u2019s brother.<\/p>\n
I did not sleep. At three in the morning, I stood outside the guest room listening to Chloe and Emma breathe. The hallway light cast a narrow strip across the … <\/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-24453","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\/24453","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=24453"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24488,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24453\/revisions\/24488"}],"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=24453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/insightdrama.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}