Chapter 12 - The Test That Shouldn’t Exist
Katelyn picked up the report.
The doctor listed at the bottom was Dr. Melissa Warren.
The same physician who had signed the clinic audit notice.
The same woman who had warned Katelyn that someone accessed her records.
“This is forged,” Katelyn said.
Arthur Crane smiled.
“You cannot dismiss medical evidence because you dislike the result.”
“There was no sample.”
Natalia crossed her arms.
“A prenatal test can use stored genetic material.”
Katelyn looked at her.
“What stored material?”
“From your first pregnancy.”
Damian went still.
Katelyn’s stomach tightened.
Not labor.
Stress.
She breathed through it.
“You used tissue from the child I lost?”
Natalia looked away.
Even the council members appeared disturbed.
Damian’s voice turned dangerously quiet.
“Answer her.”
“The clinic retained samples.”
“Not legally,” Katelyn said.
Marcus examined the report.
“The laboratory date is six months ago.”
Katelyn had not been six months pregnant then.
She had been barely ten weeks.
A valid noninvasive prenatal test would have required fresh maternal blood.
The report was scientifically impossible.
Claire spoke for the first time.
“The chain of custody lists a blood draw at St. Matthew’s Hospital.”
Katelyn frowned.
“I’ve never been treated there.”
Damian looked toward Natalia.
“Who provided the blood?”
Natalia said nothing.
Marcus pulled up building security logs.
Natalia had visited St. Matthew’s six months earlier.
The answer became obvious.
She had used her own blood.
Katelyn’s record.
Damian’s stored genetic sample.
A fake pregnancy test designed to exclude him.
Damian looked at Natalia with open disgust.
“You created another false paternity report.”
“I was protecting our future.”
“There is no ‘our.’”
Natalia’s composure cracked.
“You would have chosen her the second you saw her.”
Damian did not deny it.
That silence destroyed her.
She turned toward Katelyn.
“You left him. I stayed.”
“You stayed because you were paid.”
“I stayed because I loved him.”
“You lied to him every day.”
Natalia’s eyes filled.
“He never looked at me the way he looked at you.”
The admission hung in the room.
Damian lowered his voice.
“That was not Katelyn’s fault.”
Natalia laughed bitterly.
“No. It was yours.”
She reached toward the report.
Marcus took it first.
Arthur Crane stood again.
“Regardless of the test’s flaws, no child can be recognized without legal confirmation.”
Katelyn looked at him.
“Then we confirm after birth.”
Arthur smiled.
“If the baby survives.”
Damian rose so quickly his chair struck the floor.
Every guard moved.
Katelyn’s hand flew to her belly.
Arthur lifted both palms.
“I meant medically. She appears distressed.”
But everyone had heard the threat beneath the words.
Then Katelyn felt warmth spread beneath her dress.
She looked down.
May you like
Her water had broken.
👉 Labor began in the council chamber while the people who wanted control of the baby stood only feet away.
