Chapter 4 - The Eggs They Stole
The clinic director looked sick before she spoke.
“Mrs. Mercer, your frozen eggs remained in storage.”
Rachel leaned forward.
“Were any released?”
The director opened the sealed file.
“Four eggs were transferred under an authorization bearing your signature.”
“My signature was forged.”
“We now believe that is possible.”
The transfer had been approved by Dr. Samuel Price, a fertility specialist who left the clinic shortly afterward.
The receiving patient was Chloe.
The sperm source was Julian.
I pressed both hands against the table.
“So the baby may be biologically mine?”
“We need genetic testing before confirming that.”
My throat closed.
I had spent years believing my body had failed me.
Meanwhile, my husband and sister had taken my eggs and created a child behind my back.
Rachel asked who submitted the paperwork.
The director showed us security stills.
Julian entered the clinic with Evelyn.
Chloe arrived twenty minutes later.
All three had participated.
The director promised a full internal investigation and notified state regulators.
Before we left, she gave me a copy of the storage ledger.
My eggs were labeled C.B.-17.
The same code appeared on Chloe’s embryo transfer form.
In the parking lot, I finally cried.
Not because Julian had chosen another woman.
Because somewhere inside Chloe was a child created from a part of me that had been taken without consent.
Rachel sat beside me in silence.
Then she said, “Clara, this changes everything.”
My phone rang.
It was Chloe.
“I need to see you alone.”
“No.”
“Please. Evelyn doesn’t know I’m calling.”
I almost hung up.
May you like
Then she whispered, “The baby isn’t the only thing Julian took from you.”
👉 Chloe had participated in the pregnancy, but her frightened call suggested she had also become trapped inside Evelyn and Julian’s larger scheme.
