Chapter 6 - The Surrogate
Surrogate candidate:
Emily Reed.
My cousin.
Thirty-one.
My closest childhood friend.
My goal was to find out whether she knew.
Emily arrived crying before I called.
She had seen news of Luke’s arrest.
Then she confessed.
Beatrice offered her $250,000 to carry an embryo.
She was told the embryo belonged to an anonymous donor couple who had “medical complications.”
She did not know it was mine.
Did she sign?
Yes.
Did transfer happen?
No.
Scheduled in three weeks.
She had already undergone hormone preparation.
That was horrifying.
But her consent was based on fraud.
Then the clinic contract listed intended parents:
Luke Hayes and Caroline Hayes.
My forged signature again.
Emily thought we had secretly asked her.
Why did she not call me?
Beatrice said we wanted privacy because of marital stress.
Emily believed it.
That hurt.
But evidence supported it.
Then Emily gave me a recorded voice message from Beatrice.
“Caroline is embarrassed she can’t give Luke what he needs. Don’t make her explain.”
Manipulation through shame.
Then another contract:
If pregnancy produced female fetus, termination permitted under “medical discretion.”
I almost vomited.
Emily had not seen that clause.
Page added later.
Again.
The plan was not simply to produce children.
It was to eliminate girls.
Maya reported it immediately.
Then prosecutors expanded charges.
Then Henry did something unexpected.
He petitioned the trust court to suspend the entire male-heir clause pending public policy review.
His own clause.
Late.
But necessary.
Then Luke’s lawyer argued Henry created the pressure.
True partly.
Luke still chose crimes.
Responsibility did not transfer.
Then another development.
The frozen embryos were moved before authorities could stop shipment.
Clinic inventory said:
Released yesterday.
Courier:
Hayes Family Logistics.
Who authorized?
Luke.
From jail?
No.
Authorization signed four days earlier.
Before the boiling-water attack.
He knew investigation risk was rising.
Why?
Because I had started requesting my medical records.
He panicked.
Then shipment tracking showed the embryos never reached Mexico.
They were diverted.
Phoenix private lab.
Owner:
Hayes Family Holdings.
Beatrice had kept them local.
Why lie about Mexico?
To create a false trail.
Then federal agents raided the lab.
Three embryo canisters found.
Two matching my genetic profile.
One missing.
Where was the third?
Records showed transfer to:
Patient 4482.
Name sealed.
Pregnancy status:
Positive.
Someone was already pregnant with my embryo.
My knees went weak.
Who?
Court unsealed.
Patient:
Sophia Cole.
Dr. Adrian Cole’s daughter.
Age twenty-eight.
She had agreed to be surrogate for $400,000.
Did she know whose embryo?
She said no.
Then DNA confirmed fetus genetically related to me and Luke.
A male fetus.
Twenty weeks.
I had an unborn biological son growing inside another woman without my consent.
That was the Information Bomb.
May you like
**One of my stolen embryos had already been implanted, and a surrogate was five months pregnant with my biological son.**
*I thought stopping Luke would protect my daughter, but now I had to decide what responsibility I had toward a child created from my body without my permission.*
