PART 4 \u2014 THE CHILDREN THEY ERASED FROM MY LIFE
\nBECAUSE SOPHIE WASN’T YOUR ONLY EMBRYO.
\nI stared at Theo’s message until the words stopped looking real.
\nThree embryos.
\nThe storage card in my hand listed three embryos.
\nOne had apparently become Sophie.
\nThat left two.
\nI looked at the detective.
\n“What happened to the others?”
\nDetective Ramirez held out his hand.
\n“Claire, give me the phone.”
\nI didn’t move.
\n“What happened to my other children?”
\n“We don’t know yet.”
\n“Theo does.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“And that’s exactly why you are not going to that clinic alone.”
\nI looked at Sophie’s photograph again.
\nShe was asleep in the back seat, her cheek pressed against the window.
\nSix years old.
\nMy daughter.
\nA child I’d spent six years believing had never existed.
\n“He’s using her to get me there.”
\n“Yes.”
\n“Then I’m going.”
\nMark stepped between me and the door.
\n“No.”
\n“Move.”
\n“Claire, somebody cut your brake line.”
\n“And Theo has my daughter.”
\n“You met her for thirty seconds.”
\nI looked at my brother.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He immediately regretted saying it.
\n“She’s my daughter.”
\n“I know.”
\n“No, you don’t.”
\nMy voice cracked.
\n“You don’t know what it was like waking up after that second miscarriage and feeling like my body had betrayed me. You don’t know what it was like packing away the baby clothes. You don’t know how many nights I wondered what our children would have looked like.”
\nMark’s eyes filled.
\n“And now I find out one of them has been alive six years.”
\nI held up the storage card.
\n“And Theo says there were others.”
\nDetective Ramirez spoke quietly.
\n“Going doesn’t mean going alone.”
\nThat made me stop.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
He pulled another officer aside.
\nFor the next fifteen minutes, they discussed something I wasn’t allowed to hear.
\nThen Ramirez returned.
\n“If Theo believes you’re cooperating voluntarily, we may have a chance to get Sophie out safely.”
\n“You want me to answer him?”
\n“Yes.”
\n“What do I say?”
\n“Tell him you’re coming.”
\nMy fingers shook as I typed.
\nI’M COMING. DON’T HURT SOPHIE.
\nTheo answered almost immediately.
\nI WOULD NEVER HURT MY DAUGHTER.
\nMy daughter.
\nNot our daughter.
\nHis.
\nEven now, he was erasing me.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I typed another message.
\nWHAT ABOUT THE OTHER EMBRYOS?
\nThree dots appeared.
\nDisappeared.
\nAppeared again.
\nFinally:
\nBRING THE CARD AND YOU’LL FIND OUT.
\nDetective Ramirez read it.
\n“He needs that card badly.”
\n“Why?”
\n“That’s what we’re going to find out.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The original Brighton Reproductive Center sat forty minutes outside the city on an abandoned medical campus.
\nIt had closed after a bankruptcy dispute four years earlier.
\nMost of the surrounding buildings had already been demolished.
\nBrighton remained behind a chain-link fence, its faded blue sign hanging crooked over the entrance.
\nPolice vehicles stopped several blocks away.
\nI wore a small recording device beneath my sweater.
\nRamirez gave me instructions twice.
\n“If anything feels wrong, say, ‘I need some water.’ That’s our signal.”
\n“What if Sophie is inside?”
\n“We get her out.”
\n“What if Theo sees you?”
\n“We’ll stay out of sight unless we have to move.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
“And Vanessa?”
\n“We don’t know where she is.”
\nThat bothered me.
\nVanessa had disappeared from the apartment shortly after Theo left.
\nSo had our financial adviser.
\nPolice were looking for both.
\nI stepped out of the unmarked car.
\nRamirez caught my arm.
\n“Claire.”
\nI turned.
\n“Do not trade your life for information.”
\nI nodded.
\nBut we both knew that wasn’t a promise I could make.
\nThe gate to Brighton was already open.
\nI walked through.
\nEvery step felt like walking backward through my own life.
\nSeven years earlier, I’d entered that building holding Theo’s hand.
\nI’d been hopeful then.
\nTerrified, but hopeful.
\nI’d believed the people inside were helping us create a family.
\nNow I knew someone inside those walls had stolen it.
\nThe main doors were unlocked.
\n“Theo?”
\nMy voice echoed through the lobby.
\nNo answer.
\nDust covered the reception desk.
\nOld chairs remained stacked against one wall.
\nA faded poster showed a smiling newborn wrapped in a white blanket.
\nI hated that poster immediately.
\n“Theo!”
\nA light switched on at the end of the corridor.
\nThen I heard him.
\n“Come downstairs.”
\nI followed the hallway.
\nThere was an old stairwell beside the laboratory wing.
\nThe door stood open.
\nI descended.
\nAt the bottom was a storage area I’d never seen during our treatment.
\nTheo stood beneath a fluorescent light.
\nHe looked exhausted.
\nFor the first time since his remission announcement, he looked like the sick man I’d cared for.
\nBut I felt nothing when I saw him.
\nNot pity.
\nNot love.
\nOnly dread.
\n“Where’s Sophie?”
\n“Safe.”
\n“Let me see her.”
\n“Give me the card.”
\n“No.”
\nHis jaw tightened.
\n“Claire.”
\n“Where is she?”
\nTheo pulled out his phone.
\nHe showed me a live video feed.
\nSophie was sitting in what looked like an office upstairs.
\nShe had a juice box and a blanket.
\nShe wasn’t restrained.
\nShe wasn’t crying.
\nBut she was alone.
\n“Let her go.”
\n“When we’re finished.”
\nI stepped closer.
\n“Tell me about the embryos.”
\nTheo stared at me.
\n“You really want to know?”
\n“I didn’t come here for anything else.”
\nA strange sadness crossed his face.
\n“You were never supposed to find out.”
\n“You stole my child.”
\n“I didn’t steal her.”
\n“You forged my signature.”
\n“Vanessa handled the paperwork.”
\n“And you signed it.”
\nSilence.
\n“Why?”
\nTheo looked away.
\n“After your second miscarriage, you said you couldn’t do it again.”
\n“I said I couldn’t survive another pregnancy. I didn’t say you could give our embryos to your mistress.”
\n“She wasn’t my mistress then.”
\nI almost laughed.
\n“Is that supposed to make this better?”
\n“I met Vanessa at Brighton.”
\n“Through Emily?”
\n“No.”
\n“Then how?”
\nTheo rubbed both hands over his face.
\n“Vanessa was a patient.”
\nThat surprised me.
\n“She couldn’t produce viable eggs.”
\nI felt sick.
\n“So you decided to give her mine?”
\n“It wasn’t like that.”
\n“It is exactly like that.”
\n“Claire, we were falling apart.”
\n“I was grieving.”
\n“So was I!”
\nHis shout echoed off the concrete walls.
\nThen he lowered his voice.
\n“You stopped talking to me. You stopped sleeping. You wouldn’t walk past the nursery. Every conversation became about what we’d lost.”
\n“Because we’d lost our babies.”
\n“And I wanted one of them to live.”
\nThe words hit me hard.
\nI stared at him.
\nTheo continued.
\n“Vanessa wanted to carry a child. We had embryos. You had said you never wanted to try again.”
\n“So you chose for me?”
\n“I made a terrible decision.”
\n“No. A terrible decision is driving after drinking. You created an entire secret family.”
\nHis face hardened.
\n“You think I don’t know what I’ve done?”
\n“I don’t think you care.”
\n“I had cancer, Claire.”
\n“Don’t you dare.”
\n“I thought I was dying.”
\n“And I kept you alive.”
\n“I know.”
\n“I gave everything.”
\n“I KNOW!”
\nHis voice cracked.
\nFor one second, the room went silent.
\nThen Theo whispered, “That’s why I asked for the divorce.”
\nI stared at him.
\n“What?”
\n“I couldn’t keep watching you sacrifice yourself for a man who had destroyed your life.”
\n“Then why didn’t you tell me the truth?”
\n“Because Sophie would have been taken from Vanessa.”
\n“She’s my biological daughter.”
\n“Vanessa raised her.”
\n“Because you stole six years from me!”
\nTheo lowered his eyes.
\nI remembered the insurance form.
\n“Why is Vanessa the beneficiary of a two-million-dollar policy on me?”
\nTheo’s head snapped up.
\n“What?”
\n“Don’t pretend you don’t know.”
\n“I know about the policy.”
\n“Of course you do.”
\n“But Vanessa wasn’t supposed to be the beneficiary.”
\nThat stopped me.
\n“Who was?”
\nTheo hesitated.
\n“Sophie.”
\nMy thoughts scrambled.
\n“Why insure me?”
\n“Because of the embryos.”
\n“Explain.”
\nTheo looked toward the ceiling as if expecting someone.
\nThen he whispered, “We don’t have much time.”
\n“Theo, what happened to the other two embryos?”
\nHis eyes met mine.
\n“One didn’t survive.”
\nMy chest tightened.
\n“And the third?”
\nTheo didn’t answer.
\n“Theo.”
\nHe swallowed.
\n“The third was transferred.”
\nMy heart slammed against my ribs.
\n“To Vanessa?”
\n“No.”
\n“Who?”
\n“Emily.”
\nEverything inside me went still.
\nRachel’s sister.
\nThe nurse who had discovered the altered records.
\n“Emily carried my child?”
\n“She agreed to be a surrogate before she realized the paperwork was fraudulent.”
\n“Did she give birth?”
\n“Yes.”
\nI grabbed the edge of a metal table.
\n“Boy or girl?”
\n“A boy.”
\nMy knees weakened.
\n“Where is he?”
\nTheo said nothing.
\n“WHERE IS HE?”
\n“Claire\u2014”
\n“Where is my son?”
\n“His name is Lucas.”
\nThe world seemed to narrow to that one name.
\nLucas.
\nI had a son.
\nSomewhere.
\n“How old?”
\n“Seven.”
\n“Who has him?”
\nTheo’s eyes filled with something I had never expected.
\nFear.
\n“That’s complicated.”
\n“No. It’s not. Tell me where my son is.”
\n“After Emily discovered what Vanessa had done with Sophie’s transfer, she threatened to expose everyone.”
\n“Everyone?”
\n“Vanessa. The clinic administrator. The attorney who created the false documents.”
\n“And you.”
\nTheo nodded.
\n“Yes.”
\n“What happened the night Emily died?”
\n“I wasn’t there when the car crashed.”
\n“But you were on that recording.”
\n“I confronted her at the clinic earlier.”
\n“Did you threaten her?”
\n“No.”
\n“Did Vanessa?”
\nTheo looked away.
\n“Theo.”
\n“Vanessa was terrified she’d lose Sophie.”
\nMy stomach turned.
\n“Did Vanessa kill Emily?”
\n“I don’t know.”
\n“You’re lying.”
\n“I know they argued. I know Emily left angry. And I know Vanessa followed her.”
\nA sound came through my hidden earpiece.
\nRamirez’s voice, barely audible.
\nKeep him talking.
\nI swallowed.
\n“What happened to Lucas after Emily died?”
\n“The people who arranged the surrogacy moved him.”
\n“What people?”
\n“The law firm.”
\n“Grant, Mercer and Lowe?”
\nTheo nodded.
\n“Mercer is Vanessa’s father.”
\nThat explained everything.
\nThe law firm.
\nThe financial adviser.
\nThe forged documents.
\nThe insurance.
\nThis wasn’t only an affair.
\nIt was a system built to hide what had happened.
\n“Where did they move Lucas?”
\n“I don’t know.”
\n“You expect me to believe that?”
\n“I spent years trying to find out.”
\n“While living with me?”
\n“Yes.”
\n“While letting me believe our embryos were gone?”
\nHis eyes filled with tears.
\n“Yes.”
\nI hated him more for crying.
\n“You could have told me.”
\n“I was afraid.”
\n“Of Vanessa?”
\n“Of what her family could do.”
\nI thought about my brake line.
\n“The insurance claim.”
\nTheo’s face changed.
\n“Claire, listen carefully. I didn’t file that.”
\n“Then who did?”
\n“I discovered it three days ago.”
\n“Why was it in your possession?”
\n“Because I stole it from Vanessa’s father’s office.”
\nFor the first time, his story sounded almost impossible enough to be true.
\n“I found out they had forged a policy using signatures from our old financial documents.”
\n“Why?”
\n“Leverage.”
\n“Against who?”
\n“Me.”
\nTheo stepped closer.
\n“When my cancer got worse, I told Vanessa I was going to confess everything to you before I died.”
\n“And?”
\n“She told her father.”
\nHe glanced toward the stairwell.
\n“They were afraid you’d investigate Brighton.”
\n“So they insured me?”
\n“The policy wasn’t supposed to pay because you died naturally.”
\nCold spread through my body.
\n“Then how was it supposed to pay?”
\nTheo’s voice dropped.
\n“After an accident.”
\nMy brake line.
\nI felt my stomach twist.
\n“Was that you?”
\n“No.”
\n“Swear.”
\n“Claire, I’ve lied to you about things I will never be able to repair. But I did not touch your car.”
\n“Then who did?”
\nTheo stared toward the dark hallway.
\n“Probably the same person who brought me here tonight.”
\nMy breath stopped.
\n“What?”
\nBefore I could move, the basement door slammed shut above us.
\nTheo’s face went white.
\nHe hadn’t expected that.
\n“Theo?”
\nHe grabbed my arm.
\n“We need to get Sophie.”
\n“What are you talking about?”
\n“I didn’t send you that first photograph.”
\nEvery muscle in my body tightened.
\n“You texted me.”
\n“From my phone. Not by me.”
\n“Then who\u2014”
\nThe fluorescent lights went out.
\nDarkness swallowed us.
\nSomewhere upstairs, Sophie screamed.
\n“Mom!”
\nMy entire body reacted to that word.
\nMom.
\nShe didn’t know me.
\nShe couldn’t have been calling me.
\nThen Sophie screamed again.
\n“Mommy!”
\nTheo ran toward the stairs.
\nI followed.
\nThe basement door wouldn’t open.
\nLocked from outside.
\nTheo slammed his shoulder into it.
\nNothing.
\n“Move!”
\nTogether we hit it.
\nOnce.
\nTwice.
\nOn the third impact, the old frame cracked.
\nThe door burst open.
\nWe ran upstairs.
\n“Sophie!”
\nSmoke was beginning to fill the corridor.
\nA fire had started near the rear offices.
\nTheo coughed.
\n“This way!”
\nWe reached the office where I’d seen Sophie on the video.
\nEmpty.
\nOnly the blanket remained.
\nOn the desk sat Theo’s second phone.
\nThe one he’d claimed he hadn’t used.
\nBeside it was a printed photograph.
\nI picked it up.
\nTwo children stood together outside a school.
\nSophie.
\nAnd a boy.
\nDark hair.
\nBrown eyes.
\nTheo’s chin.
\nMy mother’s smile.
\nI knew before anyone told me.
\nLucas.
\nWritten on the back was an address.
\nThen I noticed something else.
\nA date.
\nThe photograph had been taken yesterday.
\nLucas wasn’t missing.
\nSomeone knew exactly where he was.
\nTheo looked over my shoulder.
\n“Oh God.”
\n“What?”
\n“That’s not where he lives.”
\n“Then what is the address?”
\nTheo stared at it.
\n“It’s Vanessa’s father’s house.”
\nFootsteps sounded behind us.
\nTheo turned.
\nA man stood at the end of the smoky corridor.
\nOur financial adviser.
\nDaniel Cross.
\nHe held Sophie’s hand.
\nShe was crying.
\n“Let her go!” I screamed.
\nDaniel smiled.
\n“I wouldn’t come any closer.”
\nTheo stepped in front of me.
\n“Daniel, this wasn’t the agreement.”
\nI looked at Theo.
\n“Agreement?”
\nDaniel laughed softly.
\n“You still haven’t told her?”
\nTheo said nothing.
\nMy heart sank.
\n“Told me what?”
\n“Theo didn’t come here to save Sophie.”
\n“The hell I didn’t.”
\nDaniel looked directly at me.
\n“He came to trade you for Lucas.”
\nI stared at my husband.
\nTheo’s face collapsed.
\n“What is he talking about?”
\n“Claire\u2014”
\n“What is he talking about?”
\nDaniel answered for him.
\n“Vanessa’s father has Lucas. Theo wanted him back. The price was the original storage card and your silence.”
\n“My silence?”
\nDaniel smiled.
\n“Permanent silence.”
\nTheo lunged toward him.
\nDaniel pulled Sophie behind him.
\n“One more step.”
\nTheo froze.
\nI reached beneath my sweater and touched the recorder.
\n“I need some water.”
\nThe signal.
\nNothing happened.
\nNo police.
\nNo Ramirez.
\nOnly static in my earpiece.
\nDaniel noticed.
\nHis smile widened.
\n“You can stop waiting.”
\nHe held up a small electronic device.
\n“Your friends outside lost their signal five minutes ago.”
\nMy blood went cold.
\nThen the fire alarm began screaming.
\nSmoke thickened.
\nDaniel backed toward an emergency exit with Sophie.
\n“Wait!”
\nI held up the storage card.
\n“You want this?”
\nHe stopped.
\n“Let Sophie come to me.”
\n“Give me the card.”
\n“Let her go first.”
\n“Claire,” Theo whispered.
\nI ignored him.
\nDaniel stared at me.
\nThen he pushed Sophie forward.
\n“Walk.”
\nSophie ran.
\nI dropped to my knees.
\nShe crashed into my arms.
\nFor the first time in my life, I held my daughter.
\nShe buried her face against me.
\nAnd whispered something I wasn’t prepared to hear.
\n“I know who you are.”
\nI pulled back.
\n“What?”
\nHer tear-filled eyes stared into mine.
\n“Lucas told me.”
\nMy heart stopped.
\n“You know Lucas?”
\nShe nodded.
\n“He said you’re our real mommy.”
\nI couldn’t breathe.
\n“Where is he?”
\nSophie pointed toward the photograph.
\n“That house.”
\nThen she whispered, “But Grandpa Mercer said Lucas has to leave tonight because you found out.”
\nBehind us, glass shattered from the heat.
\nDaniel shouted, “The card!”
\nI looked at the tiny piece of paper in my hand.
\nThe proof that my embryos had existed.
\nThe proof someone had forged my consent.
\nThe thing they were willing to kill for.
\nI tore it in half.
\nDaniel’s face changed.
\nThen I tore it again.
\nAnd again.
\n“No!”
\nHe charged toward me.
\nTheo tackled him.
\nThey crashed into the wall.
\n“Sophie, run!”
\nI grabbed her hand.
\nWe raced toward the front entrance as Theo and Daniel fought behind us.
\nSmoke burned my eyes.
\nThe ceiling groaned.
\nThen I heard Theo shout my name.
\nI turned.
\nDaniel had disappeared through the rear exit.
\nTheo was on the floor.
\nBlood ran down the side of his face.
\n“Go!” he shouted.
\n“What about you?”
\n“GO GET LUCAS!”
\nA section of ceiling crashed between us.
\nFlames erupted.
\nI pulled Sophie toward the exit.
\nWe burst through the front doors.
\nFresh air hit my face.
\nPolice officers ran toward us.
\nRamirez grabbed Sophie and pulled us behind a vehicle.
\n“Where’s Theo?”
\n“Inside!”
\nFirefighters moved past us.
\nI grabbed Ramirez’s jacket.
\n“Lucas is at Vanessa Mercer’s father’s house. They’re moving him tonight.”
\nRamirez immediately radioed the address.
\nSophie wrapped both arms around my waist.
\nI held her tightly.
\nThen she looked up.
\n“Are you really my mommy?”
\nEvery answer felt too small.
\nI touched her hair.
\n“I’m Claire.”
\nHer face fell slightly.
\nI continued.
\n“And I think there are a lot of things you and I deserve to learn about each other.”
\nShe nodded.
\nThen she reached for my hand.
\nSirens screamed into the night.
\nTwenty minutes later, firefighters brought Theo out alive.
\nHe was placed into an ambulance under police supervision.
\nDaniel was nowhere to be found.
\nNeither was Vanessa.
\nAt 3:46 a.m., Ramirez received a call.
\nHe listened without speaking.
\nThen looked at me.
\n“What?”
\n“They reached the Mercer house.”
\n“And Lucas?”
\nHis expression made my heart stop.
\n“The house is empty.”
\nI felt the ground disappear beneath me.
\n“No.”
\n“But they found something.”
\n“What?”
\n“A bedroom upstairs.”
\nI waited.
\n“It appears a child was living there.”
\n“Then where is he?”
\n“We don’t know.”
\nSophie suddenly tugged my sleeve.
\nI looked down.
\n“Mom\u2014”
\nShe stopped herself.
\n“Claire.”
\n“What is it?”
\n“Lucas told me something yesterday.”
\n“What?”
\n“He said if Grandpa ever made him leave, he knew where he was supposed to go.”
\nMy heart began pounding.
\n“Where?”
\nSophie looked toward Theo’s ambulance.
\n“To his dad.”
\nI stared at her.
\n“Theo?”
\nShe shook her head.
\n“No.”
\nMy entire body went cold.
\n“What do you mean, no?”
\nSophie frowned as if the answer were obvious.
\n“Lucas says Uncle Theo isn’t his daddy.”
\nThe noise around me seemed to vanish.
\nI crouched in front of her.
\n“Sophie, who does Lucas say his father is?”
\nShe looked frightened.
\n“I don’t know his name.”
\n“Did you ever see him?”
\n“Once.”
\n“Where?”
\n“At Grandpa’s house.”
\n“What did he look like?”
\nShe thought for a moment.
\nThen she said, “He had a scar on his face.”
\nI heard Ramirez inhale sharply behind me.
\n“Which side?”
\n“The left.”
\nRamirez immediately reached for his radio.
\nI grabbed his arm.
\n“You know who that is?”
\nHe didn’t answer quickly enough.
\n“Detective.”
\nHe looked at me.
\n“We recovered an old photograph from Emily’s accident file tonight.”
\nMy skin prickled.
\n“There was a witness who disappeared before police could interview him.”
\n“And?”
\n“He had a scar running down the left side of his face.”
\nI stared at him.
\n“What was his name?”
\nRamirez swallowed.
\n“Daniel Cross.”
\nThe financial adviser.
\nThe man who had just escaped Brighton.
\nMy legs nearly failed me.
\nDaniel wasn’t simply helping Vanessa hide financial crimes.
\nDaniel was connected to Emily’s death.
\nAnd if Sophie was right…
\nhe might also be the biological father of my son.
\nBut that was impossible.
\nUnless the embryo transferred to Emily wasn’t the embryo Theo thought it was.
\nI turned toward the ambulance.
\nTheo was watching me through the open doors.
\nI walked toward him.
\nRamirez followed.
\n“Theo.”
\nHe looked exhausted.
\n“Is Daniel Lucas’s father?”
\nTheo closed his eyes.
\n“Theo!”
\n“I don’t know.”
\n“You told me Lucas came from our embryo.”
\n“That’s what I believed.”
\n“Believed?”
\nHe opened his eyes.
\n“Emily discovered something else before she died.”
\n“What?”
\n“One of the embryo records had been switched.”
\nMy stomach dropped.
\n“Which one?”
\n“I never knew.”
\n“Then Lucas might not be mine?”
\nTheo shook his head.
\n“No. Claire, you’re his mother.”
\n“How can you know?”
\n“Because I had the DNA test done.”
\nI froze.
\n“When?”
\n“Two years ago.”
\n“And the father?”
\nTheo looked past me.
\nToward the burning clinic.
\nThen he said the sentence that made the entire nightmare change shape again.
\n“It wasn’t me.”
\nI could barely speak.
\n“Was it Daniel?”
\nTheo’s eyes filled with fear.
\n“No.”
\n“Then who?”
\nBefore he could answer, Ramirez’s radio exploded with a dispatcher’s voice.
\n“Possible sighting of missing juvenile. Male, approximately seven years old. Bus terminal on Route 16.”
\nMy heart jumped.
\n“Lucas.”
\nRamirez grabbed the radio.
\nThen the dispatcher continued.
\n“Juvenile is accompanied by an adult female matching Vanessa Mercer’s description.”
\nSophie squeezed my hand.
\nBut the next words were worse.
\n“Security reports the pair boarded the 4:10 interstate bus three minutes ago.”
\nRamirez asked, “Destination?”
\nStatic.
\nThen:
\n“St. Louis.”
\nTheo suddenly sat upright in the ambulance.
\n“No.”
\nI turned.
\n“What?”
\nHis face had gone completely white.
\n“Claire, you cannot let Vanessa take Lucas to St. Louis.”
\n“Why?”
\nTheo tried to stand, but a paramedic stopped him.
\n“Theo, why?”
\nHe stared at me.
\n“Because that’s where Lucas’s biological father lives.”
\nI stepped closer.
\n“Who is he?”
\nTheo looked at Ramirez.
\nThen at Sophie.
\nFinally at me.
\nAnd when he said the name, I thought I’d misheard him.
\n“Mark.”
\nMy brother.
\nThe man who had picked me up from the diner.
\nThe man who had helped police search my house.
\nThe man who had stood beside me while we opened the USB drive.
\nI laughed once because the alternative was screaming.
\n“That’s impossible.”
\nTheo shook his head.
\n“No, Claire.”
\n“Mark never donated anything.”
\n“I know.”
\n“What does that mean?”
\nTheo’s voice dropped to a whisper.
\n“The sample wasn’t donated.”
\nI stared at him.
\n“Then how did Brighton get my brother’s DNA?”
\nTheo’s answer made my blood turn to ice.
\n“That’s the secret Emily died trying to expose.”
\nMy phone rang.
\nMARK.
\nI stared at his name.
\nRamirez whispered, “Don’t answer.”
\nBut something inside me already knew I had to.
\nI pressed the button.
\n“Mark?”
\nFor several seconds, there was only the sound of an engine.
\nThen my brother spoke.
\n“Claire, I need you to listen to me and not say anything.”
\nMy heart pounded.
\n“Where are you?”
\n“I know what Theo told you.”
\nI looked at Ramirez.
\n“How?”
\nMark ignored the question.
\n“I’ve known about Lucas for two years.”
\nI stopped breathing.
\n“Mark…”
\n“I’m sorry.”
\n“Where are you?”
\nAnother pause.
\nThen a child’s voice came faintly through the phone.
\n“Uncle Mark?”
\nSophie gasped beside me.
\n“That’s Lucas!”
\nI gripped the phone with both hands.
\n“Mark, is Lucas with you?”
\nSilence.
\nThen Mark said, “Yes.”
\nI looked at Ramirez.
\nThe bus report had been wrong.
\nVanessa had been a distraction.
\nMy brother had Lucas.
\n“Bring him back.”
\n“I can’t.”
\n“Why?”
\n“Because if I bring him back, you’ll finally learn what happened the night you lost your second baby.”
\nMy entire body went numb.
\n“What are you talking about?”
\n“Claire…”
\nHis voice broke.
\n“You didn’t have a miscarriage.”
\nThe world stopped.
\nI couldn’t speak.
\nMark continued.
\n“Your baby was born alive.”
\nI covered my mouth.
\n“No.”
\n“Theo knows.”
\nI turned toward the ambulance.
\nTheo wouldn’t look at me.
\n“The clinic knows.”
\nMark’s voice shook.
\n“Vanessa knows.”
\nTears blurred my vision.
\n“Where is my baby?”
\nThere was a long silence.
\nThen Mark whispered:
\n“That’s why I’m taking Lucas to St. Louis.”
\n“Why?”
\n“Because your baby didn’t die seven years ago.”
\nI could hear myself breathing.
\n“Mark…”
\n“Your child is alive, Claire.”
\nI closed my eyes.
\nThen came the words that shattered everything I thought I knew about my family.
\n“And Lucas isn’t the child they stole from you.”
\nThe call disconnected………………..<\/p>\n
PART 4 \u2014 THE CHILDREN THEY ERASED FROM MY LIFE BECAUSE SOPHIE WASN’T YOUR ONLY EMBRYO. I stared at Theo’s message until the words stopped looking real. Three embryos. The … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6509,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6559","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-story"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6559","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6559"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6559\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6561,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6559\/revisions\/6561"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6509"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6559"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6559"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echostoryus.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6559"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}