Chapter 5 - The Woman Carrying My Child
Annika’s bedroom was empty.
Her closet had been cleared.
Her passport was gone.
The security system showed Beverly leading her through the rear garage twelve minutes before police arrived.
They left in a white medical van registered to Stanford Women’s Health.
The same clinic named in my forged records.
Edwin sat in the mansion library under police supervision.
He refused to answer questions without an attorney.
I entered anyway.
He looked at me with no remorse.
Only calculation.
“Where are they?”
“I don’t know.”
“Annika is carrying my embryo.”
“She agreed to be a surrogate.”
“I did not.”
“You signed the forms.”
“They were forged.”
He leaned back.
“Prove it.”
I placed the recovered file on his desk.
“Your father kept everything.”
Edwin’s expression shifted.
Just slightly.
“You knew he was alive,” I said.
“No.”
“You knew the key.”
“I saw it when I was young.”
“You knew the hidden rooms.”
“This was my childhood home.”
“You kept him beneath the cellar.”
“That was Beverly.”
“You always blame the woman standing closest to you.”
His eyes narrowed.
“You should be careful.”
“Why?”
“Because emotional instability will not look good in court.”
There it was.
Even now.
The same threat.
“You fabricated psychiatric records.”
“I protected myself.”
“From what?”
“You.”
I stared at him.
He stood.
“You think you were easy to live with?”
I almost laughed.
“You controlled my friends, my money, my medical care, and the doors I could leave through.”
“You were reckless.”
“I visited my father.”
“You chose him over your husband.”
“He was dying.”
“He hated me.”
“He saw you clearly.”
Edwin’s face tightened.
“I built this family.”
“No. You built a cage.”
He moved closer.
“The embryo is legally mine.”
“No child belongs to you.”
“The trust recognizes a biological heir.”
“That is why you did this.”
He smiled.
Finally honest.
“When the child is born, Stanford Holdings becomes permanently mine.”
“Not anymore.”
“You think the temporary transfer will survive?”
“My father’s evidence will.”
“Your father is dead.”
The cruelty was deliberate.
For the first time, it did not wound me.
It revealed him.
“You are going to prison.”
“Not if Annika confirms you consented.”
“She won’t.”
“She already has.”
He reached into his robe pocket and removed his phone.
A recorded statement played.
Annika’s voice.
Claire knew about the procedure. She asked me to carry the child because she was afraid pregnancy would damage her body.
The recording sounded clear.
Calm.
Rehearsed.
“Why would she say that?” I asked.
“Because she knows who protects her.”
“Beverly?”
Edwin smiled.
“Me.”
The library door opened.
Robert entered with a police medic beside him.
He looked weak, but his voice remained steady.
“You never protected anyone, Edwin.”
Edwin turned.
“You should have stayed dead.”
Robert absorbed the words without flinching.
“I used to blame Beverly for what you became.”
“Don’t.”
“But cruelty was already in you.”
Edwin grabbed a crystal decanter.
The officer drew his weapon.
“Put it down.”
Edwin released it slowly.
Robert looked at me.
“There is a tracking device in the medical van.”
Jonathan checked the Stanford fleet system.
The van was heading east toward a private airfield.
A jet waited there.
Destination: Zurich.
Annika would be beyond U.S. jurisdiction within the hour.
Police mobilized.
I grabbed my coat.
Robert stopped me.
“You should stay.”
“That is my child.”
“We don’t know what Beverly will do.”
“That is exactly why I’m going.”
He studied me.
Then nodded.
At the airfield, rain swept across the runway.
The white van stopped beside a private jet.
Beverly stepped out first.
Annika followed, one hand protecting her stomach.
She looked terrified.
Police vehicles surrounded the aircraft.
Beverly pulled a pistol from her coat and pressed it against Annika’s side.
“Back away!”
I stepped from the lead vehicle.
“Let her go.”
Beverly saw me and smiled.
“You always were more trouble than Edwin promised.”
Annika began crying.
“Claire, I’m sorry.”
Beverly tightened her grip.
“Quiet.”
I moved closer.
“You need her alive.”
“I need the baby alive.”
The distinction chilled me.
“What happens to Annika after delivery?”
Beverly’s smile answered.
Annika understood too.
Her expression changed from fear to horror.
“She said I’d be paid.”
“You were never going to be paid,” I said.
Beverly laughed.
“You really think you can rescue everyone?”
“No.”
I looked at Annika.
“But she can rescue herself.”
Annika drove her heel down onto Beverly’s foot.
The gun fired.
Police rushed forward.
Beverly fell.
Annika collapsed beside the van, screaming and clutching her stomach.
May you like
Blood spread across her dress.
📖 Annika had finally turned against Beverly, but the gunshot and sudden bleeding placed Claire’s stolen child in immediate danger. 👇
