Chapter 5 - THE LIE HE NEEDED EVERYONE TO BELIEVE
Julian did not answer until his attorney asked for a private break.
They stepped out for nine minutes.
When they returned, she looked irritated.
Julian looked resigned.
“I didn’t know for certain.”
I stared at him.
“You knew enough to keep quiet.”
“Yes.”
“But last night you announced the babies had nothing to do with you.”
“I was angry.”
“Try again.”
He looked down.
“I didn’t want Chloe to think I cared.”
That was ugly enough to sound true.
“Cared about what?”
“You being pregnant.”
“With children who may genetically be yours.”
“Yes.”
I leaned back.
Julian continued.
“Chloe thinks if they’re mine, then I manipulated everything to stay connected to you.”
“Did you?”
“No.”
“Did you ask her to alter my donor choice?”
“No.”
“Did she?”
He looked toward his attorney.
There it was.
“Julian.”
“I don’t know.”
Claire spoke.
“What exactly did Chloe tell you?”
“She said donor 4187 was in the system.”
“When?”
“Before Emma’s cycle.”
“How would Chloe know it was Julian’s material?”
“She saw the transfer notes.”
“Were those notes supposed to be visible?”
“No.”
“Did she tell Julian his former wife selected 4187?”
“Yes.”
My nails pressed into my palm.
“When?”
Julian answered.
“The morning of your insemination.”
I stared at him.
“You had hours.”
“I know.”
“To call me.”
“Yes.”
“To call the clinic.”
“Yes.”
“To tell someone there was a possible identity problem.”
“Yes.”
“You did nothing.”
His voice dropped.
“I wanted to know what would happen.”
The sentence sickened me.
“What does that mean?”
He looked embarrassed.
“I wanted to know if it worked.”
“As an experiment?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
He rubbed both hands across his face.
“I spent years believing I’d never have biological children. Then suddenly there was a possibility.”
I couldn’t speak.
He continued.
“I told myself if you didn’t get pregnant, none of it mattered.”
“And if I did?”
“I didn’t let myself think that far.”
I laughed once.
“You’re thirty-seven.”
“I know.”
“That excuse belongs to a teenager.”
He nodded.
“I know.”
I wanted to hate him cleanly.
But what I saw was worse.
A selfish man.
A frightened man.
A man who had been cheated by a doctor and then chose to make me absorb the uncertainty rather than confront it.
Claire asked, “Why preserve the internal file?”
Julian looked at the white envelope.
“Mercer contacted me six months ago.”
My pulse jumped.
“He’s alive?”
“Yes.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know.”
“What did he want?”
“Money.”
Garrison leaned forward.
“For what?”
“He said he still had records showing the transfer was intentional.”
“Intentional by whom?” I asked.
Julian looked at me.
“He wouldn’t say.”
“How much did he ask for?”
“Fifty thousand.”
“Did you pay?”
“No.”
“Then how did you get the envelope?”
“He mailed it.”
“Why?”
“To prove he had records.”
I looked at the pages.
“So this is blackmail material.”
“Basically.”
Claire asked, “Did Mercer threaten disclosure?”
“Yes.”
“To whom?”
“The clinic. Medical board. Emma.”
My stomach tightened.
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
Julian stared at the table.
“Because you were already pregnant.”
There it was again.
Delay until truth became more expensive.
“What did Chloe say?”
He looked toward me.
“She told me Mercer was lying.”
“Why would she know?”
“She said the donor-number assignment was a clerical error from the transfer.”
“Was it?”
“I don’t know.”
“But you believed her.”
“I wanted to.”
The phrase could have described our entire marriage.
I wanted to.
We wanted to believe what cost us least.
Then Julian’s phone buzzed.
He looked at the screen.
His face tightened.
“What?”
He turned it over.
I caught the preview first.
From Chloe:
Do NOT tell Emma about the second transfer.
I looked at Julian.
“Second transfer?”
May you like
He swore under his breath.
And this time, even his attorney looked confused.
